As The Worm Turns!
by XJerseyGirl
Summary: After a series of distraction jobs gone wrong, Stephanie seeks a little fun revenge.
1. Live Bait

As The Worm Turns!

Disclaimer: Any character you recognize belongs to Janet Evanovich. I only borrowed them and will send them home when we're finished playing. The others are just figments of my imagination ... except maybe one.

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A/N: This is my first attempt at Fanfic and it's not my fault. MagnificentSin made me do it. If you don't like this, please e-mail her! Seriously though, all comments and criticisms are welcomed. Thanks for reading!

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Warnings: These characters are adults and think, talk, and act like adults. If you are easily offended or underage, please don't read any further.

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As The Worm Turns! 

Chapter 1: Live Bait

God, this is getting old. These distraction jobs used to give me such an adrenaline rush. Dressing up slutty and using my "feminine charms" to lure the skip out of a bar and into the waiting arms of Ranger and his Merry Men used to make me feel powerful. It used to make me feel like I was in control of something in my life. But recently the clothes have gotten skimpier, the bars have gotten seedier, and the skips have gotten sleazier. At the end of the night I just feel tired and dirty.

The last couple of jobs haven't gone well. One dirtbag dragged me out the back door of the bar instead of me taking him out the front. There was no cover out back and the skip almost got away. Ranger was NOT happy with me about that. Another skip made Bobby and Hal before they could move in. He pulled a knife out of his boot, determined that he was NOT going down easy. In the struggle to get him cuffed, his shield, me, managed to get a little cut that required 27 stitches, a blood transfusion, and 3 days in the hospital. Ranger wasn't happy about that situation, either. Nobody asked me how I felt about it. I, on the other hand, just can't wait for the cosmetic surgery to hide that scar! We're not even gonna talk about what my mother had to say on the subject!

What I've come to realize is that I have absolutely no control over a distraction job. Ranger and Company carefully choreograph the entire show, taking all the variables into consideration. They check out the site, deal with owners and staff, work out my cover and even choose my clothes. To them, it's like a fishing expedition. They know the fish they're going after, they choose the fishing hole, they have the rods, reels and tackle, and they have the bait, me. I am draped over a hook like a worm and dangled in the fish's face. The fish bites, they reel him in, it's a catch. But when something goes wrong, somehow or another, it becomes my fault. I can't figure out how that happens, because I'm never consulted about anything. Nobody ever asks the worm! Well, guess what? That's gonna change. This worm has turned!

I work full time for RangeMan now. Ranger made me an offer I couldn't refuse, and no, it's not what you're thinking. He offered me a job. It came with a contract and great pay and a benefits package that made even my mother happy. But what really sold me was the company vehicle and insurance that I don't have to sign over my first born to afford. I'd really miss Rex. So, half the time I do research and the other half I'm out in the field like the rest of the guys. We provide security services, both business and personal, work bond enforcement, do surveillance and takedowns. For the first time in my life I can honestly say that I love my job. Part of the reason is that it's never boring and part is because I love all the guys I work with and part is, well, Ranger. But we're not going there right now. We'll save that discussion for later.

In keeping with RangeMan policy, I work out in the gym three days a week. Okay, okay, I know what you're thinking, I hate it. Well true, I do. But I look better than I have in years. There's not an iota of fat on me and all my clothes fit. I just won't admit to anybody that it's the exercise. I've also been trained in hand to hand takedown techniques and have become good enough with my gun that I can always hit what I aim at. None of the guys object to having me watch their backs in the field and nobody demands hazardous duty pay when they're partnered with me ... any more. I have passed the RangeMan Quarterly Skills Evaluations in the top 15 of the company, nationally. Plus, Ranger hauls my ass out of bed four days a week to go run with him. I have, however, drawn the line at the bark and twigs diet. Nothing will make me give up my Ben & Jerry's or my TastyKakes. It's a religious thing.

Anyhow, these distraction jobs are not part of my contract with RangeMan. I do these jobs 'at will', although I've never refused to do one, and am paid for them as a sub-contractor. This means that I get a percentage of the take as opposed to a flat fee. My bank account has swelled to the point where I can pay all my bills, always have food in the fridge, and afford all the FMPs that my heart desires. Even Rex, the hamster, has benefited with a brand new, state of the art, multi-level Habitrail. The little guy is in hamster heaven. But, I'm starting to think that the money isn't everything.

So here I am, Stephanie Plum, the Bombshell Bounty Hunter, getting ready for yet another distraction job. I'm on my third coat of mascara. I should tell you that I use mascara the way other people use alcohol, for courage. The more courage I need, the more mascara I use. At the rate I'm going, I'm gonna have to start buying it in a 55 gl. drum. Black mascara, blue eyeshadow, and whore red lipstick are all part of the uniform for these jobs and I could probably put it on in my sleep. Not really something to include in a job resume, but hey, a talent is a talent. Right?

Ranger has provided my wardrobe for this evening's little soiree and I have to admit that he really outdid himself this time. We've argued back and forth endlessly, over the clothes. I say that I'm good enough that the clothes don't have to be non-existent. He says that if the clothes are tiny enough, I don't have to be good. We'll just have to see about that.

The tiny, frayed denim shorts he has chosen are so skimpy that they make regular "Daisy Dukes" look like part of a nun's habit. I can't even get the top button buttoned and I don't have any fat on me anymore. Honest! Enough butt cheek is hanging out that these shorts legally qualify as indecent and I'm really grateful that I let Lula talk me into a Brazilian wax last week. I can't even fit a thong under these things. Jeez! Who would have thought that Stephanie Plum would ever go commando?

The top is an equally modest little number. It's a tank top two sizes too small and ripped off about 2 inches above decent. If I lift my arms, you can see the underside of my boobs. Talk about advertising a product! I'm trying to make myself feel better by wearing a tiny little lace bra. The straps show, but the lace looks sexy and, after all, I have to have someplace to put the mic.

I finished off the get up with short black leather FM boots with 4" heels. They're gonna be hell on my feet, but if I get lucky, maybe I can lure this scuzzball out of the bar in record time and get the hell outta there. While I really doubt that's gonna happen, it never hurts to be optimistic.

I stood back to look at myself in the full length mirror on the back of the bathroom door. Okay, I am now absolutely convinced that in a previous life, Ranger must have run hookers on Stark Street. No, I take that back. This outfit gives Stark Street hookers a bad name. They have better taste. Just ask Lula.

On these kind of jobs, I'm always wired with a microphone and carry a panic button. Beats me where I'm gonna put that damn button. These shorts are so tight that if I put it in the pocket, the button'll be pushed down all the time. The panic button is appropriately named though, 'cause looking at myself, I'm panicked!

Ranger and I are definitely having words when this distraction job is over. Lots of words. Loud, too.

I put my robe on because I knew what would happen if I opened the door dressed like this. Ranger "enjoys" dressing me up like a working girl. He also likes to play with the merchandise a little. Oh, he's never done more than cop a feel and kiss me brainless, but I don't think he has a clue as to how that affects me. This may be a distraction job, but I'm not the one who's supposed to be distracted. That's something else that's gonna change, too.

I gave my sky high hair another shot of maximum hold hair spray and walked out of the bathroom in time to hear the locks on my front door turn. The man in question let himself in, as usual. He closed the door softly and leaned back against it, crossing his arms over his chest. That man does have the ability to take my breath away. Black pants, white dress shirt opened three buttons down, hair loose, sleeves rolled up, yum. Too bad he knows it, too.

"Not ready yet, Babe?" He gave me a small feral smile as he took in the robe.

"I'm ready. I just need the wire and my jacket." Tonight we're keeping it strictly professional, I thought. I won't be able to argue my points about the clothes if I'm letting him suck my brains out through my mouth.

I walked over to him and held out my hand for the mic. He just looked at me and raised an eyebrow. He reached out and took my outstretched hand, lifting it up to kiss first the palm and then the wrist, placing it around the back of his neck. His eyes never left mine as he took hold of the knot on my robe's belt and hauled me up against him. And just like that, all my resolution slipped away.

"You're all wrapped up like a present, Babe." He whispered seductively into my ear. "Do I get to open the package?" He put his hands on my shoulders and reversed our positions so that now, my back was against the door.

I still didn't say anything. I couldn't trust my voice not to squeak. Was I really able to fool myself into thinking that I could stand up to Ranger when just the sight of the man made my mouth go dry and my throat close up? Who the hell was I kidding?

He bent his head and gently brushed his beautiful pillow-soft lips back and forth over mine. When the tip of his tongue touched my lower lip, I just sighed and melted against him. I ran my hand through his silken hair and pulled him in for a kiss. It was all teeth and tongue and I barely felt him untie my belt and run his hands up to the neck of the robe. He slid his hands over my shoulders under the fabric and eased it off and down my arms, never breaking the kiss. My hands were at his waist now, and the robe caught on my elbows.

Ranger broke the kiss slowly and took a step back from me. His eyes ran from my face, down my body, leisurely taking in the outfit. I heard the soft groan that rumbled in his chest and when he brought his eyes back to mine their beautiful chocolate color had been replaced by glittering black. Oh holy hell, I recognized this look and I was in big trouble here .

His breathing was ragged, open mouthed and shallow. He splayed his fingers on the side of my neck, his thumb in the hollow at the botttom of my throat. Slowly he brought his mouth down to that tender spot where my neck met my shoulder. My eyes drifted shut and I gave myself over to the sensations. His tongue ran small, hypnotizing circles over the place and when he sucked the skin into his mouth, I gasped and my knees almost gave out. Too late I realized that he was marking me. He ran his other hand over my naked belly, brushing his knuckles over my skin and running his fingertips under the waist of the shorts. Now I was glad the shorts were so tight. If he had been able to get his hand inside, I really would have been a goner. He satisfied himself with massaging small circles on my stomach.

His magic fingers had the bra open and his hands cupped my breasts, kneading them, pinching and rolling my nipples until I thought I would scream. His mouth still worked on my neck, sucking and nipping here and there. He pushed the shirt up and lowered his mouth to my breast. He took my nipple into his mouth, laving it with his tongue then sucking it hard into his mouth. I'm pretty sure the whimpering sound I heard was coming from me. I fisted both my hands in his hair, holding him to me. He had put his thigh between my legs and that was the only thing holding me up. He gave the same attention to my other nipple then moved his mouth up to the swell of my breast and marked me there also.

He leaned away from me to admire his handiwork and gave me a small, satisfied smile. "Now you look the part, Babe. Used." He pulled the bottom of the shirt back down over my breasts. His voice was low and guttural as he muttered in my ear, "Lose the bra. You'll attract more customers."

Why this statement brought my out of my stupor, I'll never know. If he had slapped me, I couldn't have been more shocked. I just ... snapped. I put my hands on his chest and shoved with all my might. I know I took him completely by surprise. If I hadn't, I never would have been able to move him. As it was he only moved back a couple of steps.

"You're not my pimp, Ranger." I was suddenly so furious I was shaking. I glared at him as I struggled to straighten my clothes.

He snagged my wrist and pulled me closer, taking my face roughly in his other hand, forcing me to meet his eyes. "Sure I am, Stephanie. When you're working distractions, that's exactly what I am."

The son of a bitch! The bastard! I literally saw red and heard a rushing sound in my ears. The hurt and anger I felt must have been written on my face. I know it severed any connection between my brain and my body. I couldn't breath. I couldn't speak. I looked up into that smug face and I did the only thing I could do. I slapped him as hard as I could.

TBC ...


	2. Bait And Tackle

As The Worm Turns!

Disclaimer: Any characters that you recognize belong to Janet Evanovich. They just came out to play for a little while and I'll make sure they wash their hands and faces before I send them home. Any characters that you don't recognize are figments of my imagination, except 'you know who'!

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Warnings: These characters are adults and think, act, and talk like adults. If you are easily offended or are under the age of 18, please don't read any further.

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A/N: Many thanks for the reviews. Since this is my first Fanfic, I'm counting on the readers to let me know what I'm doing right, and what I'm doing wrong. Thanks MagS for all your help and support. I hope Ranger pays you a visit tonight!

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As The Worm Turns! 

Chapter 2: Fish Or Cut Bait

Holy shit! I slapped Batman! I better call my Mom and Dad and tell them good-bye, terminate my lease, sell my clothes, and find a new mommy for Rex. I have no doubt that I'll be disappearing off the face of the Earth at any moment. It's bad enough I hit the guy who pissed me off, but that guy is also my boss. I am so royally screwed!

I guess I should tell you a little about my relationship with Ranger. I met Ricardo Carlos Manoso, Ranger, about 3 years ago when he agreed to be my mentor in the bounty hunting business. He showed me the ropes and backed me up more times than I can count. He's provided guns, cars, cuffs, and muscle but most of all, unconditional support.

There has always been a strong undercurrent of sexual attraction between us, but we've only shared one night of magical, earth shattering, mind blowing sex. He had threatened to ruin me for all other men. Well, he came pretty damned close. Then he sent me back to Morelli, my on again-off again boyfriend, and I went, more out of humiliation than anything else, I think. He also told me that if my bed was empty too long, he'd be back in it. Well, Morelli and I broke up six months ago, and I have to admit that part of the reason I'm mad at Ranger is because he didn't make good on that promise.

Ranger has told me he that loves me a couple of times. Unfortunately, he always qualified it with 'there's all kinds of love' or 'mine comes with a condom, not a ring', it's always something. He also said his life doesn't lend itself to relationships. The only thing missing was a "Danger! Enter at Your Own Risk!" sign hung around his neck. Well, I'd been warned. Did I listen? Hell, no! I've had to face the fact that I'm in love with a man who isn't in love with me. Oh sure, he wants my body, but I want his heart. He won't do a relationship, and I can't be a fuck buddy. Since neither one is gonna happen, I'm afraid we're at an impasse. A stalemate. Pathetic, isn't it?

So, Ranger and I are left dancing around each other, it's like this tango that we do. There are stolen kisses and touches, looks and innuendo, but nothing more. The only time he seems to crack is when I'm dressed in my slut regalia, the sluttier I look, the more the mask slips. His sensual assaults leave me closer to tears than satisfaction, and I had to start taking steps to protect myself. Unfortunately, it's from him. That's exactly what I did tonight and to say that the results were disastrous doesn't even come close.

Anyway, I didn't take off the bra. At least I won that round. Ranger was as angry with me as I was with him. I don't think that either one of us could explain why. Well, I knew why I was mad, I just didn't know about him and at this point I really didn't care, either. I would not put up with any more of his bullshit!

Ranger called Tank to come and drive me to the bar where the distraction was planned. When he got up to my apartment, Tank took one look at me and shook his head. "Jesus Christ, Bombshell! What the hell were you thinking when you picked that getup? You look like you belong on Stark Street. You're not asking for trouble, you're begging for it!"

He turned to Ranger, "Ranger, are you gonna let her go over there dressed like tha ..."

I sneaked a peek at Ranger, who was very careful not to look at me. He was, however, giving Tank his own version of a death glare and Tank's voice kind of died in this throat.

"I rest my case," I muttered. Point for me! I stood with my arms crossed over my chest and tapped my toe to hide the fact that I was still shaking. I was royally ticked and I had every right to be. The one time I stand up for myself and demand respect, Ranger gets all pissy. He's mad at me because I wouldn't let him treat me like a slut. What was with that? And who the hell was this Ranger who showed up in my apartment tonight anyway? I sure as hell hadn't met him before. This is the man who guarded his emotions and wore a blank face so that nobody could read him. Now all of a sudden he's an open book? I just don't get it. Well, it was probably a moot point, 'cause I was pretty sure that this would be my last ever distraction job for RangeMan.

Ranger turned to glare at me and I gave back as good as I got. I was so not going to back down. I had never said no to a distraction job, no matter how badly some of them had gone. I had no weapons and no way to protect myself. Hell, the way I was dressed, there was no place to put a weapon even if I had one. I had a mic but no earpiece. The guys could hear me, but I had no way of knowing what was going on unless I could see it with my own eyes. I was getting sick and tired of things going wrong on a takedown and it somehow became my fault. I was tired of Ranger dressing me up like Street Corner Barbie and treating me like he was paying me by the hour. And he had the nerve to be mad at me? I don't THINK so!

Poor Tank had no clue as to what was going on between Ranger and me. I knew he saw the bright red slap mark that still graced Ranger's cheek. He had looked at Ranger, then at me, with his eyebrows raised up to where his hairline would be if he wasn't bald. Probably he was amazed that I was still among the living. He's used to me being over the top, but Ranger? Ranger is a stoic, calm, quiet and unreadable. Here we were hissing and growling at one another like a couple of cats that needed to be hosed down. If looks could kill, we'd both be puddles on the floor and Tank was wise to stay out of it. Ranger tossed, actually threw, the mic to Tank and said he's see him at the bar and stalked to my door without bothering to say anything else to me. That was just fine with me because, personally, I think he had said quite enough.

Tank stopped him with a hand on his arm. He reached into his pocket and handed Ranger a handkerchief. Ranger raised his eyebrows in an unasked question. "Not the best shade of lipstick with your coloring," quipped Tank with a smirk. Ranger cursed under his breath, wiped his mouth and looked at the red stain on the cloth, then shoved it into his pocket.

He turned to give me a final look. I gave him a pissy face and blew him a kiss. Ranger actually turned purple. Then his blank face fell into place and he turned and left. He slammed the door so hard on his way out that it registered on Richter Scales worldwide. I guess I should start worrying about which third world nation I was gonna wake up in tomorrow.

Even from up here in my apartment, we could hear Ranger hauling ass out of the parking lot. He burned enough rubber that tomorrow he'd be at Al's getting new tires on the Porsche. Serves him right, the bastard! It's too bad there isn't a police car in Trenton that's fast enough to catch him and give him a ticket. Ha!

Tank looked at me expectantly. I knew he wanted an explanation but I was afraid if I opened my mouth at this point, I'd start to cry. I just looked at him and shook my head. Dammit! I hate it that I cry when I'm angry. At least I held it together in front of asshole, er ... Ranger. I went into the bathroom to collect myself and repair my makeup, and almost screamed when I saw the necklace of hickeys and bite marks on my neck. Ranger was such dead meat! Even if I wore aT shirt, some of the bruises were high enough on my neck to be in clear view. It was simple. Ranger was a dead man.

Tank came and leaned against the doorway, arms crossed over his massive chest, saying nothing. He was just this big, comforting presence, like a big teddy bear. Please don't tell him I said that. When I was ready, he helped me on with my jacket and I grabbed my purse. Tank took the keys from my still shaking hand and locked up after us. In deference to my 4" heels, I took the elevator to the first floor and Tank took the stairs. He was waiting for me when the doors slid open and put a friendly arm around my shoulders. He hugged me to him and kissed the top of my head as he walked me out to his car.

Now, Tank always drives brand new, bright, shiny, always clean H2's. I think he trades them in when they get dirty. He is nothing short of fastidious when it comes to his vehicles. He's always whipping out a cloth to wipe off a smudge or whispering sweet nothings to them. He takes a lot of crap from Ranger and the Merry Men over his obsession. Newborn babies don't get the care and attention he lavishes on his cars. In the parking lot sat our ride for this evening. It was a 1986 Olds Delta 88 with three hubcaps and no back bumper. The poor car looked like it had more Bondo than metal on it. To say that it had seen better days was a gross understatement. It was the perfect undercover car for a Trenton cop, but for Tank?

I think I snorted when I saw it because Tank looked at me and held one finger up in my face. "Not . a . word!" He actually growled at me. I just bit my lips and nodded. He helped me into the front seat and slammed the door three or four times before it caught. I bit the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood, trying to keep control. He marched around to the driver's side and climbed in, turned the key and the car backfired, filling with a cloud of smoke that made my eyes water. Tank stared at me, daring me to say something. I just calmly rolled down the window and stuck my head out, gasping for air. Off we drove, leaving a trail of exhaust a mile wide behind us, doing our bit for Trenton's air quality.

Our destination was a dump called The Wharf. It was located in the worst part of Trenton, down by some abandoned docks. You wouldn't stumble onto this joint; you had to know it was there. It was one of those places where the 'clientele' could order a little something extra from the waitresses. Tonight, I was one of those waitresses. Not surprisingly, our skip frequented dives like this. Apparently, these places were where he picked up his some of his victims. As we drove to the bar, I had an opportunity to look over the file on the skip we were after. Tank kept shooting me looks which I kept trying to ignore. I finally gave in.

"Okay, Tank. Spill it." I'm pretty sure I sounded snotty.

"What the hell was going on at your place? Ranger ALWAYS drives you to the job. How come I'm behind the wheel? You two looked like you wanted to kill one another with your bare hands." When I didn't respond, he continued, more gently. "I don't know what the problem was, but this is no way to go into a distraction job, especially one with a skip as dangerous as this one. You have to be focused. Do we need to cancel this for tonight, Steph?"

"Christ, Tank." I took a deep breath and blew it out. "Yeah, there was a problem. And it wasn't just tonight. I've had this ...'issue' for a while now. Ranger and I have talked about it a couple of times. He sees it as my problem, not his. It finally came to a head. I had enough and I did something about it. That's where it stands. I'm okay to do the job, though. Just keep Ranger away from me and everything should be all right."

"You gonna tell me what's wrong?" I could see from his expression and tone that his concern was genuine.

I sighed heavily and looked at him. "Ranger seems to think that because I let him dress me up like a whore, that I'll let him treat me like a whore. I can't let it keep happening, Tank. I can't let it happen ever again."

Tank raised his eyebrows and chewed on that for awhile.

"Again? Are you saying that you're not working any more distraction jobs for Rangeman?"

"Shit Tank, he's so angry with me that I don't think it's gonna be my decision to make." I picked up the file and started to read.

"Bombshell, you ain't never seen that man angry. Christ, tonight he was only mildly perturbed. You'll know when he gets angry. He yells. In Spanish. The madder he gets, the more Spanish he yells." I tried to shoot him a pissy look, but shuddered at the thought of a really angry Ranger, and went back to the file.

Anthony (Tony) Panzarelli was a three time loser who had been released on bond on a legal technicality. His last arrest was for sexual activity with a child and his checkered past contained numerous charges ranging from stalking to assault to rape, all the way back to his early teens. All were crimes against women and children with an escalating pattern of violence. An altogether upstanding citizen. Somehow or another, when I was given the initial file, most of this information had been omitted. Another little bit of missing info was his mug shot and physical description. It said here that he was 6'7" and weighed 394 lbs. This guy could break me with his little finger. Shit! He was bigger than Tank and as ugly as sin. I so did not have a good feeling about this.

It did make me feel better to know that the Merry Men were supposed to be planted all over the place. They were going to pose as bar patrons and my customers. Joseph DeMarco, or Joey Dee, the owner of The Wharf, had been very co-operative with the plans for tonight's takedown. Just the mere suggestion of visits from the Police Department to monitor the 'activities' of the establishment, the Fire Department to check for code violations, The ATF to check licensing, building inspectors, code enforcement and so forth, had spurred the owner into a frenzy of civic responsibility. RangeMan had pretty much been given the run of the club for the night, and Tank assured me that every variable had been taken into consideration. The entire set up had been carefully orchestrated, so what could possibly go wrong?

The plan was for me to lure the skip out of the bar and walk him across the parking lot toward one of the RangeMan SUVs parked at the back of the lot. Due to his enormous size, it was decided that once he was out the door, he would be stunned. Out cold, he wouldn't fight the cuffs and shackles and the likelihood of anyone getting hurt was substantially reduced. All the biggest RangeMen were here to lend a hand wrestling him into and out of the SUV and with hauling his ass into the pokey. Everything was covered, so no real problems were anticipated tonight.

We pulled into the parking lot next to a seedy looking warehouse down by the river. The flickering neon sign over the door offered 'Beer and Po l Tab es'. Tank turned on my mic and handed it to me. Not only would this allow the guys to hear everything that was said, but it all would be recorded back at RangeMan. In case there were any problems with the takedown, the recording could be used for evidence. He grinned while I tried to fight it, modestly, into the right side of my bra. I finally just said "fuck it" and pulled up my shirt and stuffed it into place. I've never seen a black man blush before, but he sure didn't look away. I tested out the mic and headlights flashed from both sides of the parking lot.

"That's Hal and Ram," Tank said, pointing to one vehicle. "They'll be at the back door. Lester and Bobby, in the other truck, are at the front and Ranger is bartending. Hector, Cal and I are supposed to be inside as your customers. You'll never be out of sight of one of us. Even if you need to go to the ladies' room, give one of us the high sign and we'll wander over and cover the door."

He turned in his seat, one arm on the steering wheel, the other on the back of the seat. He studied me for a minute. I guess he wanted to assure himself that I really was okay. Then, leaning over he took my hands in his. "Whatever you do, Bombshell, do NOT let this guy get you alone. He's a mean drunk and likes to hurt the ladies. He's big enough that he could do real damage to you. Be careful and remember that we all have your back." I turned to open the door when Tank reached out and touched my arm. "That means Ranger, too." I just shook my head.

I was just about to get out of the car when an old Ford pickup pulled in and parked a couple of spots down. Our skip hauled his fat ass out of the truck followed by three other guys. Oh gee, a party! Tank and I exchanged raised eyebrows, then grins and he shoved back the seat. I wound up with my head in his lap. Tank made a good show of grabbing me by the back of the head and moaning "Oh Baby, you do that so good!" I couldn't help myself, I started to laugh. To the casual observer it looked like I was really enthusiastic about the "job" I was doing. The four guys paused to watch for a moment and started to applaud before they went on into the bar.

I sat up and Tank and I watched until they disappeared inside. "Well, they saw me. I guess that means I can't be a customer now," Tank said with a huge grin.

"Oh no, big guy, I'm so good you'll just have to come back for another round." I said it in my most sultry voice. This time I heard honks from the Merry Men. We both laughed.

"Go get 'em, tiger." With that Tank kissed me on the cheek and I got out of the car. That was usually the send off I got from Ranger. Even when he was on the inside of a job, like he was tonight, Ranger always managed to call somebody's cell phone so he could speak to me himself. I never thought of myself as superstitious, but not hearing his voice tonight seemed like breaking the tradition. I didn't feel nearly as confident as I usually do. I admit I was a little spooked.

The other guys got their first chance to see my get up and flashed their headlights at me. I heard cat calls and whistles, too, but didn't know whether they were from my guys or the drunks who were out in the parking lot. Suddenly, I just didn't want to do this job. I had a sour taste in my mouth and a knot in the pit of my stomach, but there was no turning back now, so I tried to shake off the hinky feeling.

I picked my way between the cars and customers, avoiding potholes and gropers alike, and made it to the employee entrance unscathed. Okay Steph, I told myself, you've done this a hundred times before; this one's no different than any of the others. Just get in there and take care of business. You know your stuff, you know what needs to be done, just go do it. Take a deep breath and let it out slowly, head up, shoulders back, its show time.

TBC ...


	3. Thar He Blows!

As The Worm Turns!

Disclaimer: Any characters that you recognize belong to Janet Evanovich. Once I finish playing with them, I'll send them home, even Ranger. Any characters that you don't recognize are figments of my imagination.

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Warning: These characters are adults. They think, talk, and act like adults. If you are easily offended or are under the age of 18, please read no further.

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A/N: The only Spanish I speak is 'Mi lapis amarillo es sobre la mesa' and it's hard to work 'My yellow pencil is on the table' into a conversation. Translations are courtesy of Babel and Louis Escobido, not .com. I thought I would try something different. The English translation will tell you what I'm HOPING I wrote in Spanish. Please review and let me know how I'm doing.

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As The Worm Turns!

Chapter 3: Thar He Blows!

Mierda, mierda, mierda, orines y cojedera. Owwww. Son of a bitch! Esto fue lo mas estupido que yo he hecho. Patie mi propio carro. Ayyyyy, mira ese guarda fangos. Mierda ... Grandioso ... ahora tengo hasta publico.

"Yes, Sir. Good evening."

"Yes, Sir. I remember you, Mr. Karwat."

"Yes, Sir. It's a Porsche."

"Yes, Sir. It was a very stupid thing to do."

"Yes, Sir. A woman."

"Yes, Sir. Stephanie."

"Yes, Sir. I often don't know whether to kiss her or kill her."

"Yes, Sir. Good night to you, too."

Dios todo poderoso, tengo salir de aqui. Cerra la puerta tan duro que hasta me temblaron mis dientes. Ella tiene suerte que nada mas azote la puerta. Quise rasgar la pinche puerta lejos las pinche bisagras y lo tira fuera la pinche ventana. Si habia permanecido alli otro minuto, ya habria envuelto mis manos alrededor del cuello y la estrangulo. En un momento la estoy besando y en otro me esta golpeando. Y en verdad se carga un golpe para tan chica pequena que esta. No tengo idea de lo que la pasa. Puedo ser que esta en su mes? Las mujeres llegan a ser un pequeno loco cuando ellas hormonales. Quiza PMS?

Esa mujer me maneja loco. Yo nunca he estado tan enojado con ella. Yo ya ni recuerdo cuando fue la ultima vez que me enoje asi con alguien, mucho menos con ella. Es decir, yo soy una buena persona. Tengo la reputacion de no ser tempermental y tener control. Todos saben que siempre estoy sereno y tranquilo. Nunca grito o me disgusto. Puedes preguntorle a quien quieras. Yo soy un tipo tranquilo y llevable. Bueno. De vez en cuando yo golpee la mierda alguien en el gimnasio. Pero no muy a menudo. Y no soy enojado. Y es solo trabajar del enfasis. Soy un principe, un novio.

Yo pense que teniamos una relacion funcionable. Que infiernos paso? Ahi estaba, con la bueno de mi corazon, tratando de ayudarle. Trataba de asegurar que ella encontrara la parte, para que nadie adivinara que es como una planta y que nadie la hiciera dano. Ve lo que paso. Me golpea. A mi! Su amigo! Su patron! Yo la trato exactamente igual que a todo mundo. Pero si una de mis hombres habia hecho eso, yo lo habria galpeado fuera. Se aloco? Estare loco yo? Uno de nosotros lo esta.

No puedo creer todo esto. Juro que ella hace esta mierda aproposito. Si, eso es. Lo hace aproposito para conseguir debajo de me piel. Ella me esta castigando! Si eso si concuerda me castiga. Pero por que? Que le hice yo para que ella me torture asi? Juro por que dios que ella ha sido enviada por el mismo demonio para hacer de mi vida un infierno vivo.

Que es lo que tiene que me vuelve loco? Claro que vestida asi ... well shit, volveria loco a cualquier hombre. She's got eso de ser virgen-piruja, y me conduce a enloquecerme. Que yo pudiera hacer para no meterme en eso... Don't go there, Ric. No se besarla o matarla, problemente haria las dos cosas. Eso haria que me sintiera mucho mejor. But God, ella luce inocencia en her eyes y cuando she looks at me ... Y ese little gasp she makes, Dios it just ties me in knots. Her skin is so soft and she tastes so sweet. Oh Dios Mio, she could kill a man.

When did I lose control? Why do I feel like I've fallen into an alternate universe? This is like The Twilight Zone. Nope, no, wrong. This is so screwed up it's like an episode of 'I Love Lucy.' And Stephanie is Lucy, and I'm ... Oh God help me! ... I'm Ricky Ricardo. Steeephaaanie! You got some 'splainin to do ...

Fuck! 105 MPH! That woman is gonna make me kill myself! Shit ... cops. Just what I need, a speeding ticket. Who the hell wished this on me?"

Translation ... I hope!

Shit, shit, shit, piss and fuck! Owwww! That was the stupidest thing I have ever done. I kicked my own car. Arrrggghhhh! Look at that fender! Shit! Oh great! An audience!

"Yes, Sir. Good Evening."

"Yes, Sir. I remember you Mr. Karwat."

"Yes, Sir. It's a Porsche."

"Yes, Sir. It was a very stupid thing to do."

"Yes, Sir. A woman."

"Yes, Sir. Stephanie."

"Yes, Sir. I often don't know whether to kiss her or kill her."

"Yes, Sir. Good night to you, too."

God Almighty, I had to get out of there. I slammed that door so hard, I rattled my own teeth. She's lucky that I only slammed it. I wanted to rip the fucking door right off the fucking hinges and throw it out the fucking window. If I had stayed there another minute I'd have wrapped my hands around her neck and throttled her. One minute I'm kissing her and the next she's slugging me. She sure packs a wallop for such a little thing. I have no idea what came over her. Maybe it's her time of the month? Women get a little whacked out when they're hormonal. PMS, maybe?

That woman just freaked me out. I have never lost it like that with her. I can't remember the last time I was this angry with anybody, much less her. I mean, I'm a nice guy. I have a reputation for being even tempered and in control. Everybody knows that I never lose my cool. I never yell or get upset. You can ask anybody, I'm a laid back, easy going kind of guy. Okay. So sometimes I beat the shit outta somebody in the gym. But not very often. And I'm not angry. It's only to work off the stress. I'm a prince, a sweetheart!

I thought we had a great working relationship going for us. What the hell happened? There I was, out of the goodness of my heart, trying to help her. I was trying to make sure that she looked the part so nobody would guess she was a plant and try to hurt her. And look what happened! She hit me! Me! Her friend! Her Boss! I treat her the same as everybody else. But if it had been one of my men, I'd have knocked them out. Is she nuts? Am I nuts? One of us is nuts!

I can't believe this whole thing. I swear she pulls this shit on purpose. Yeah, that's it. She does this on purpose to get under my skin. She's punishing me. Yeah, that makes sense, she's punishing me. But for what? What have I ever done to her that would make her torture me like this? I swear to God, she's been sent by the devil himself to make my life a living hell.

What is it about her that drives me nuts? Sure, dressed like that ... well, shit, she'd drive any man crazy. She's got this whole virgin-whore thing going. It just drives me wild and it was all I could do to keep from ... don't go there, Ric. I wanted to grab her and throw her down on the floor and ... and I don't know what! I don't know whether to kiss her or kill her. I should probably do both. It'd make me feel a hell of a lot better. But God, she's got this innocence in her eyes, and when she looks at me ... And that little gasp she makes. It just ties me in knots. Her skin is so soft and she tastes so sweet ... Oh my God, she could kill a man.

When did I lose control? Why do I feel like I've fallen into a alternate universe? This is like the Twilight Zone. Nope, no, wrong. This is so screwed up it's like an episode of 'I Love Lucy." And Stephanie is Lucy and I'm ... Oh God help me! ... I'm Ricky Ricardo. Steeephaaanie! You got some 'splainin to do ...

Fuck! 105 MPH! That woman is gonna make me kill myself! Shit ... cops! Just what I need, a speeding ticket. Who the hell wished this on me?

"Hey Carl, Big Dog."

"Yeah, I know. I was going way too fast."

"Yup. It is a nice dent, isn't it."

"Kicked it."

"Yeah, Stephanie."

"You're right. I don't know whether to kiss her or kill her."

"Thanks guys, good night."

Police POV:

Carl: "Poor dumb fuck!"

Big Dog: "Yeah. In love with Stephanie Plum."

Carl: "Did you hear him yelling something about 'I Love Lucy'?"

Big Dog: "Ha! Lucy and Ricky sittin' in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g!"

Carl: "They're made for each other."

Big Dog: "Too bad they're the only ones who don't know it."

Carl: "Yeah. Maybe we should give 'em some help?"

Big Dog: "Yeah. Maybe we should call Tank?"

Carl: "They'll never know what hit 'em."

Big Dog: "Yeah. Poor dumb fucks!"

Both: Laughter.

TBC ...

Please review and let me know if you think I should continue and where you'd like me to take this story.


	4. Trolling For Fish

As The Worm Turn!

Disclaimer: Janet Evanovich owns all the characters that you recognize. I'll send them all home in time for dinner, even Ranger. Any new characters are figments of my imagination.

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Warnings: These characters are adults. They think, talk, and act like adults. If you are easily offended or are under the age of 18, please read no further.

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A/N: Thank you for reviewing, please keep it up! I've had a lot of fun writing this. Thanks MagS, for all your help and support.

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Chapter 4: Trolling for Fish

Oh my God, I wish I had my mascara with me, I definitely need more courage. I pushed open the Employee Entrance door and was met by the Official Wharf Welcoming Committee. Joey Dee and one of the regular waitresses were waiting for me. Joey looks, sounds and acts like Joe Pesci in 'My Cousin Vinnie,' in other words he's a stereotype. He's short, round, and slimy. Dressed in a shiny suit and string tie, he obviously thinks of himself as God's gift. God's gift to 'what' remains the question. He's the rotund version of my real cousin Vinnie. Oh God help us, there are two of 'em!

They gave me a quick rundown on the operation. As usual, prices for drinks were set by the house. Waitresses could accept tips but there was tip share with the bartender. Prices for 'services' were set by the girls. All the girls charged the same rate, which they set themselves. How very democratic! The house got a 25 percent cut of what the girls charged. The bouncers and the bartender split another 10 percent of the take for security and bookkeeping. Bookkeeping, huh? I'd have to ask about that one later. Anyhow, the ladies got to keep 65 percent of what they charged.

Christie, the waitress, took me into the locker room and showed me where I could leave my jacket and bag. The locker room was actually neat and clean and the restroom and shower were also well maintained. I'm quite sure that the management had nothing to do with that. She showed me where the very well stocked first aid kit was kept. I guess it was a occupational necessity in this line of work.

Christie was a tall brunette who was bursting out of her halter top and she looked like she lived at the gym. Yeesh! She was the picture of health and vitality and looked more like my idea of a personal trainer than a professional working girl. She certainly didn't look like she belonged in a dump like this and if she was going to be in this business, she was more the Mayflower Madam type. You know, a super high priced escort for the rich and famous.

"I know who you are," she whispered to me. She made it sound like I was a movie star or something. "Joey asked me to show you the ropes."

I guess I gaped at her. "You know that I'm not gonna take any real customers outside, right?"

"Oh yeah, yeah. But you need to look like a pro, right? So let me give you some tips so you know how to handle yourself. First, and this is real important, if somebody asks you for a 'service' and you don't want to go, if he looks hinky or something, tell him you can't go until your break. Then go get one of the bouncers or the bartender. They'll find a reason to get rid of him. Oh, and if you do decide to go outside for a smoke or a 'service', always take one of the guys. We give 'em 10 percent of our cut, and sometimes a freebie. They stand guard outside and make sure nobody gets rough, 'cause, let's face it, some of these guys are weirdos." She giggled. "I sure wouldn't mind giving that new bartender a freebie!" She smiled and winked at me. My new best friend!

She gave me three pieces of gum and I guess I looked at her funny until she explained. Understanding finally sank in. I forgot about 'advertising'. The girls who were 'available' chewed gum. Mental head slap here. She also handed me a half dozen condoms. They were red, and cherry flavored, I might add. All I could think of was Grandma Mazur and her condom stash. I bet she had these in her stock pile.

"Every girl has a different color condom. When a guy wants to 'reserve' you, you give him a condom. Then one of the bouncers will go collect for you and pass it on to the bartender. We don't talk money with a trick, I mean customer. Saves trouble with the cops. If somebody askes about prices, tell 'em to talk to the bouncers. If the bouncers get a bad vibe, they'll run him off. When you run out of condoms, go to the bartender and he'll give you more of your color. He keeps count of how many 'services' you do. At the end of the night he settles up for the house and the bouncers amd pays you in cash." I didn't realize that there were so many rules and regulations for this job. I wondered if they actually had a handbook.

"Oh, one more thing. Watch out for the vice cops. Every couple of weeks some new guy, who's trying to make a name for himself, shows up and tries to close us down. They're the normal looking guys who want to know prices before anything else. That's why we call 'em 'services'. Some of these guys can be real nasty, some want special treatment, if you get my drift." Oh swell!

My Teacher had been relaying all this information in a perfectly matter of fact voice. She made is sound like I would be asking customers if they "wanted fries with that." She stood with her butt leaned against the sink and her long legs crossed at the ankles. She was flipping a wrapped condom through her fingers the way a gambler flips a poker chip. I still didn't think she looked like my idea of a pro. She looked like a model with her gorgeous smile and big blue eyes. I wondered what made her choose this job. Why she didn't have any other options. I guess it was really none of my business, but I already felt a connection with this girl.

"One last thing." Oh goodie! "When you come back inside, go to the bartender and get a shot. Come in here and rinse your mouth out with it and spit it out. Just in case, ya know?" Holy Shit!

I touched up my lipstick and stuffed a couple of pieces of gum into my mouth. My mother always said that girls who chewed gum looked like cows. Well, there was a whole herd of 'em here tonight. Almost every girl in the place had a wad of Double Bubble in her mouth.

I stood in the doorway for a minute, checking out the crowd. I spotted the Merry Men who were scattered all over the place. Locating the skip was easy. He was the one that looked like a cross between the Stay Puft Marshmallow guy and the Michelin Man. He and his buddies were on the other side of the bar at the pool tables. They had only been here a few minutes and they were already rowdy.

The bar owner, Joey, called over the waitress who was covering that section. He whispered something in her ear and it was obvious that she wasn't happy with what he said. He took the tray out of her hands and shoved it into mine. She gave us both a dirty look and stomped off to the back. Joey looked at me and jerked his head in the direction of the pool tables. Off I went for my first shift as a working girl. The slimeball had the nerve to smack me on the ass as I passed him.

Cal and Tank were at one of the pool tables. Both were excellent pool players and had obviously struck up a conversation with the skip and his buddies. It looked like they were gonna be playing for money. They would keep these guys busy so that when I waltzed Tony outside, his friends would stay safely in here and not have an opportunity to try to interfere with the takedown.

I sauntered over and started clearing empty bottles off the edges of the pool tables. "Okay guys, what'll it be?" I tried to sound bored.

My skip, Tony, ordered a round of Budweisers for the pool players and looked me up and down. I got my first close up look at Tony. He was as big as his file said, but twice as ugly. He had pasty white skin and little pig eyes that peeked out of a doughy face. He wheezed when he talked and sweat just dripped off him. He backed me up against the table and tried to put his sweaty arms around my shoulders. The man obviously needed an introduction to soap and water. He stunk!

"Hey, hey, you know the house rules. Don't handle the merchandise. You can look, but ya can't touch." I dodged his hands and slipped away from him. He gave me his version of a toothy smile that showed he was in need of some serious dental work, too.

"You new here, Sweet Lips? I woulda noticed a pretty little thing like you." Tony was a scintillating conversationalist.

Tank answered for me. "Nah. Honey here's been on vacation and, boy, we all missed her!" Cal agreed and gave me a huge wink for Tony's benefit.

I gave Tank a big smile and made kissy lips at Cal. "My friends here are real good customers," I cooed and batted my eyelashes.

"Be right back, boys." I sashayed over to the bar to get the beers. I knew all eyes were on my ass so I made sure I added a little extra action.

I hadn't seen Ranger since I got here, but I knew he was watching me. I had that familiar tingle running down my spine. He was supposed to be bartending, but when I walked passed before, he wasn't behind the bar. I walked over to get the Buds just as he came around the corner of the bar carrying a case of long necks.

"Six Bud longs," I told him and he wordlessly put the bottles on my tray, staring me straight in the eye the whole time. I stared right back. Neither of us blinked. I was getting pretty good at this stare down thing. It was a RangeMan requirement. Now if I could only master the blank look and the ESP thingy, I'd have it made.

Christie came up to the bar at that point. She put in her order and gave Ranger a big smile. He returned it with a full 200 watt-er and added a wink.Then he turned his blank face on me. I guess I'm supposed to be jealous or hurt or something. Sorry to disappoint! I gave him my best 'Burg eyeroll and turned to Christie.

"How ya doing so far? Anybody giving you a hard time?" My mentor was concerned for my well being. More than Ranger was, it would appear.

"Everything's fine so far. I just have one little problem that I'm hoping you can help me with."

"Sure, whatever you need."

"I took the place of a regular waitress here, I don't know her name. I was wondering if you'd give her a message for me?" Christie nodded. "Would you please tell her that I'll turn over any tips that I collect, to her. She's losing money with me taking her place and I feel bad about it."

"Oh, that's Rose. She's supporting two kids on her own. Deadbeat dad and all. She'll be glad to get the money, she can sure use it. Her little boy has asthma and needs all kinds of special medicines. She's forever running him to the doctor and the emergency room." She smiled at me and put a hand on my arm. "That's a nice thing that you're doing. I'll go tell her now."

It dawned on me that I hadn't seen Christie take any customers out to the lot. And she was the only girl in the place who didn't have a wad of gum in her mouth. She was young and tall and beautiful, just what every guy would want. The customers hovered around her like moths to a flame, so it wasn't for lack of business. Hmmm, maybe she wasn't a working girl after all. So what was she doing in a place like this? After we took care of Tony, I was gonna make it my business to find out about her.

I watched as Christie took her order and delivered it to the tables, and then walked towards the back where the locker room was. I caught Ranger staring at me; I knew he heard the whole conversation because of the mic. Whatever he was thinking was hidden behind the official RangeMan blank face. I just took my order and turned away.

I brought the beers back to the pool players who all stopped their game to gather around me. Tony's buddies made some really lewd remarks and I hoped that the lighting was bad enough that they couldn't see how red my face was. Tank and Cal told a few really bad jokes that I laughed at and Tony just watched me, licking his big fat greasy lips. Ugh! He chugged his beer and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. I made a big show of flirting with Tank and Cal, leaning against them and touching them. I sat on Cal's lap and he leaned in and whispered in my ear. I wrestled a condom out of my too tight shorts and slipped it into his shirt pocket.

"How about another round, Sweet Lips. Keep 'em coming. You make sure I always got a full one in my hand and maybe I'll put a full one in your hand later on." Eeeeewwwww! His friends thought this was hilarious for some reason.

I suppressed a shudder. My water heater didn't hold enough hot water to make me feel clean after this one. Even with all that gum, I had a sour taste in my mouth. If I hadn't seen his rap sheet, this guy would still have given me the creeps. I had to get him outside quickly so I could get home and disinfect myself.

So I sucked it up and flirted with him. I gave him a sexy smile and said in my best sultry voice, "You got it, big boy. Let me know what else I can do for you." He just leered at me and I hurried to the bar to get his beer.

I cruised the rest of my section, mostly populated by Merry Men, and took orders. Lester put his hand on my ass when I leaned over to clear the empties and I smacked him hard. He does a great drunk act. He grabbed my arm and I threatened to bean him with an empty. A bouncer came over and made a big show of throwing him out. Of course the bouncers were in on everything so we really didn't have to worry about trouble from them. Lester would stay outside so that when I waltzed the skip out, he'd already be in position.

Ranger was watching me out of the corner of his eye and I was watching him the same way. I knew that he was tracking the conversations, but I couldn't tell whether or not he thought things were going okay. I couldn't very well go ask him.

I worked real hard not to look at him or make eye contact but I had to make sure that this job went smoothly so that he wouldn't have anything to bitch at me about later on. If we were going to have problems, they needed to be kept on a personal level, which is what I considered our earlier dispute to be. I was determined to keep the work issues separate from our other issues and not blur the line between the two. I had no intention of giving him grounds to fire me from RangeMan. If I was gonna leave, it was gonna be on my own terms.

The next round I brought Tony 2 bottles of beer and announced that he needed to pay up because I was going on my break. Everybody in the place understood that this was a code for when the girls would go outside to make that extra cash. Tony forked over the money for the drinks, but tried to stuff it down the front of my tank top. I grabbed it from his hand and asked if he needed a visit from the bouncers. He just smirked at me.

"So, is there somethin' else I can do for ya besides gettin' beer?" I was back to the bored voice.

"I'll take what he had," and he motioned towards Tank.

I tried to hand him a red condom. Tony gave me a half drunken smile and shook his head when I held it out to him. He motioned to the front of his pants, indicating that he wanted me to put the condom in there. Oh shit, no! There was no way in hell I was putting my hand in there! Not me, nope, no way, nuh unh! If this caused a problem, Ranger could come over and put HIS hand in this guy's pants.

I was rescued by Cal who came up behind me and wrapped an arm around my waist. He whispered in my ear, "Time to get this show on the road." I nodded. Since I had given Cal the condom earlier, Tony would just think that we were taking care of business. I told Cal I'd meet him at the door. I motioned to the bouncer who had tossed Lester out and he nodded back.

I looked at Tony and swayed my ass over to him. I reached up, way up and put the condom into his shirt pocket and then patted it. "You're turn's after his, big boy. You have no idea what I have in store for you. It'll be worth the wait." I gave him what I hoped was a sexy smile and licked my lips.

He grabbed my hand and raised it to his mouth. He licked my palm. Clorox, I thought. Gallons and gallons of Clorox. I would bathe in it tonight. I felt the bile rise and burn my throat. I tried to snatch my hand back, but he held tight, just staring at me.

Cal yelled from the door, "Hey Honey, move your ass. I ain't got all night."

"Okay, okay! You only take a minute anyway, Flash!" Everybody laughed and Cal squinted his eyes at me. Where do I come up with these things? Cal's expression told me that payback would be a bitch.

Tony finally let go of my hand and I made my way to Cal, wiping my hand on my shorts. Every RangeMan eye had caught the exchange between Tony and me. Every RangeMan was on alert. Tank stepped between Tony and the door just in case he tried to follow me. Hector wandered over and asked Tony if he could join the game, and with a final glance at me, Tony turned his attention back to the pool table.

I saw Christie watching from the other side of the room. She gave me a sympathetic smile and a shrug. Something was niggling at the back of my brain about her, but I was too unsettled by Tony to pull it out. Once this is over, I promised myself, once this is over, I'd figure her out.

Cal put his arm around me and pulled me towards the door. The bouncer followed us. We needed to make sure that everything we did made it look like I was really a working girl. I leaned in and nuzzled Cal on the shoulder. Even in my 4" heels I couldn't reach his neck. He wrapped his beefy arm around me, hand on my ass, and we strolled to the door.

"That guy scares the crap outta me, Cal. I mean he really creeps me out. He's got dead eyes." I whispered to him as I glanced back over my shoulder at Tony.

Tank caught my eye and gave me a reassuring wink and nod.

Cal patted my arm as a chill ran through my body. "It'll be okay, Bombshell," he whispered to me. "We're all here with you and you'll never really be alone with him. The guys are already starting to get into position, and this'll all be over in a few minutes. Tell ya what, after we drop old lard ass off at the station, I will personally give you a lift home with a detour through the nearest Mac Donald's drive thru ... my treat." He lowered his voice even more because of the mic. "If you promise not to tell Ranger, I'll even join you." God bless Cal. Who would have thought that a man with a flaming skull tattooed on his forehead would understand the importance of comfort food?

We got to the door and the bouncer pushed it open for me. I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up, my spidey-sense was at work. I turned quickly. Tony was watching me again. He stared into my face, his little pig eyes glittering, and I was suddenly afraid of this man. His mouth smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. There was something in his gaze that I couldn't name, but it chilled my blood. I felt a shudder skitter through my body, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from his. I knew, in my heart of hearts, that I had just been tagged as his next victim.

TBC ...

Should I continue? Should I throw it away? I'm a newbie at this, I need guidance. So please review and let me know how I'm doing.


	5. The Big Catch

As The Worm Turns!

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Disclaimer: Janet Evanovich owns any character that you recognize. I'll put them all back when I'm through playing with them ... yes, even Ranger. Any character you don't recognize is mine, all mine!

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Warning: These characters are adults. They think, act, and talk like adults. If you are easily offended, or are underage, please do no read any further.

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A/N: Please review and let me know how I'm doing. Should I continue? And where would you like this story to go? Thank you MagS for help, inspiration, encouragement, editing, brainstorming, and friendship!

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Chapter 5: The Big Catch

The bouncer pushed the door open for me and I took Cal by the hand and stepped out into the parking lot. I'd give it fifteen minutes for everybody to get into position, then go back in to get Tony. I'd waltz him out into the parking lot for the takedown, and then MacDonald's here I come!

Two steps out the door, I was grabbed by the arm and slammed face first onto the hood of a parked car. I hit so hard that all the air was pushed out of my lungs and I gasped for breath. My cheekbone hit the hood first, hard enough that I saw stars. Damn, I'll bet I get a black eye from this one. There was a hand on the back of my neck and another had my right arm twisted painfully up behind my back. I struggled against the hands holding me down. The words 'police officer' and 'resisting arrest' floated through my shock and I stopped fighting.

Cal was on the other side of the car with his hands raised. He was attempting to tell the cops who we were and why we were there, but they refused to listen. A young cop I recognized from the booking desk was holding his gun on us while the other cop had me pressed into the hood.

My face was turned away from the bar door so I couldn't see the action, but I heard somebody yell, "Cops." The customers and the girls stampeded out of the bar in record time. Cars started and screeched out of the lot, and in a matter of minutes, all was quiet. Christie had told me that these little visits from the Vice cops happened on a regular basis. The regular customers must have had their escape routes planned well in advance. Elementary school fire drills aren't pulled off with this kind of precision.

The cop who had hold of me kept running his mouth to the other cop. I hoped that he was showing off for the young cop's benefit, and that this wasn't his usual modus operendi. He was a heavy handed louse. He knew he was hurting me and was either getting off on it, or just didn't care. Probably both.

I looked at the younger cop. "Officer, my name is Stephanie Plum and my partner is Calvin Harrington. We, as well as a number of others here, are authorized fugitive apprehension agents. You've written body receipts for skips that my partner and I have brought in to the station. We have all the necessary paperwork to pr ..."

"Shut the fuck up and don't say nothin' until I tell ya to. Understand that, ya 'ho? Yer yapping is givin me a headache." The cop behind me twisted my arm a little higher. I yelped at the pain, then just bit my lip. Nothing I could say now would make any difference and if it kept him from inflicting any more damage on me, I'd be glad to keep my mouth shut.

My arms were shoved up over the car hood where my face was planted. He had his hand between my shoulder blades now, pushing hard. He stood behind me and kicked my feet wide apart. Whoever this dipwad was, he rubbed himself up against my behind. In this position I suppose it was an appealing target, especially since he thought I was a hooker and wouldn't object to the treatment. He had the nerve to ask if it felt good, the SOB.

Cal was also assuming the position over the hood. Of course, his face wasn't making a dent in it. He could see what was happening to me and he reached over and took my hand in his. He squeezed tightly to reassure me that I wasn't alone. I just shut my eyes and prayed for it to be over. The cop pulled my arms down behind my back and I felt the cuffs snap onto my wrists, tightened as far as they would go. I hissed in pain as they pinched my skin.

Rough hands patted me down. Like I really had any place to hide anything. He ran his hands throught my hair, over my neck and down my bare arms. He grabbed the hair at the back of my head and pulled me up a few inches off the hood of the car. When I protested he gave my head a hard shake. I'm probably gonna have a bald spot on the back of my head now.

Whoever this bastard was, he ran his hands up under my shirt, pushed his fingers into my bra and copped a good feel. I gasped when he pinched my nipples, hard. Surprisingly, he missed the mic. I knew that Ranger and the guys could hear what was going on, but other than Cal, nobody could see what the rat was doing.

"Cut it out, you asshole. Get your hands off her." Cal was furious and made no bones about it. When he saw this clown's hands go under my clothes, Cal's face turned red. I looked at him, catching his eye and shook my head. "Don't," was all I said to him. I didn't want him to get into anymore trouble than we were already in. He didn't need to be charged with resisting or assault.

I had passed furious and was already close to tears. It's that anger thing, ya know? I was so mad I was shaking and literally had to bite my tongue to keep the tears from falling. It didn't matter that I wasn't really a pro, nobody should have to put up with this shit. It was humiliating and dehumanizing. The son of a bitch was using his badge to cover his abuse. This guy was gonna pay, big time!

He chuckled. "Oh baby. I can tell how you like it. Look at all them bruises. You like it rough, don't ya baby? And I'm just the guy who can give you what you want." I didn't recognize his voice and since I hadn't seen his face, I still didn't know who I was dealing with. But I was gonna find out, and when I did, you can bet your sweet ass that all hell was gonna break loose. I was gonna kill this bastard, right after I killed Ranger.

I saw the flashing lights of a patrol car as it pulled into the lot. I guess this was their backup unit. This was one time I was really praying for a cop I knew to show up. I was hoping for Eddie, but Carl or Big Dog, or any of the guys, would have been a welcomed sight. Hell, at this point I would've been glad to see Morelli! That alone should tell you how bad off I was.

The bastard shoved my face back down on the hood again, and continued the pat down. He found the condoms in my pocket and pulled them out. He tossed them on the hood of the car. He ran his fingers around the waistband of my shorts, over my stomach and down between my legs. When he had his hands there he pulled my ass back into his crotch and ground against me. He ran his hands over my bare legs down to my knees. Back up and over my ass. Down the back of my legs and into my boots, then slowly up, all the way to my crotch again. His fingers ran under the bottom edges of the back of the shorts. I yelled for him to stop and tried to wiggle away from his hands.

"Oh come on honey, you ain't no virgin. Why shouldn't I have a little taste for free. We could have some fun in the back of my car. Maybe work out a little deal? You like the cuffs? You into bondage?" He said it so softly I don't think anyone else could hear. But the mic could and I hoped the recorder was still turned on. He took the condoms and slipped them into his pocket. I'm pretty sure he was making plans for their use that included me. A shudder went through me at that thought.

I was already plotting my revenge. What this bastard didn't realize was that I had friends in high places. I wasn't a working girl who would keep my mouth shut because I was afraid of how he could use his badge against me. His boss, Police Chief Michael Rimbolli, belonged to the same lodge as my Dad. They played cards together every Wednesday night. Uncle Mike had know me since before I was born and, as the father of five boys, I was the daughter he never had. The judge that I would probably appear before, when I finally got to court, was my real uncle, my Dad's brother Vic. Uncle Vic was my godfather and I was his favorite niece. I didn't anticipate any problems with the New Jersey Judicial System. It would just be a whole lot easier if the cop would back off now, before I got into that system.

At this point I heard a female voice, loud enough for everybody to hear. "Hey jerkoff. Keep your hands outta her pants. You probably couldn't get a woman even if you paid for her, so you gotta cop a feel off somebody who's cuffed. You go after guys like that, too?"

I turned my head and saw Christie standing outside the front door of the bar, hands on hips, taunting the cop. She caught my eye and gave me a huge 'watch this' smile.

He finally pulled me off the hood and let me stand up. As he turned me around and shoved me back against the car I got to see him for the first time. I didn't recognize him. Since I knew every cop at the station, at least by sight, he must be new here. He announced that he would be charging me with prostitution, resisting arrest, and assault on a police officer, and if I gave him any more trouble, he'd be happy to add to the list. Swell!

"Hey you, yo pig! You planning on making a little stop with her on the way to the station? Huh? I know your game. Can't get a woman on your own so y ..." He grabbed Christie and threw her up against the car next to me. He pulled out another pair of cuffs and snapped them on her wrists and walked away to talk to Cal.

Christie looked at me and smiled. "Thought you could use a little company. We didn't think you should take that ride to the cop shop alone with him."

My eyebrows were in my hairline. "We who?"

"Me and your friends, those great big, gorgeous guys over there." She nodded towards Tank and the rest of the Merry Men. He and Ram were leaning against one of the RangeMan SUVs. When they saw that I was looking at them, they saluted me. "They said they'd bail me out, too." I turned to look for Ranger, but he wasn't in the parking lot. I knew he had heard everything, but I wondered how much he had seen. I also wondered why he wasn't here. I guess I already knew the reason.

I looked around the parking lot and saw that two more RangeMan vehicles had pulled in, their headlights trained on me and the cops. The crowd of spectators seemed to be made up of mostly RangeMen. It looked like the cavalry had arrived. Besides Tank and Lester, Bobby, Hector, Hal, Cal and Ram, it looked like the whole Rangeman building had cleared out into this parking lot. I wondered who was left minding the store. I still couldn't find Ranger. I guess he was mad enough at me to let me twist in the wind.

The two cops from the other car turned out to be Carl and Big Dog. As soon as they saw me they came running over. This time they weren't laughing, though. Both their faces showed real concern. Carl came directly to me and looked closely at my face while Big Dog went to talk to the cop who had cuffed me.

"Karvic! What the hell are you doing?" Big Dog hissed at him. "Don't you know who she is?"

"I don't give a fuck if she's the Chief's personal playmate, I got her on prostitution." Karvic was apparently not the brightest bulb in the box.

"This is Stephanie Plum. She's a bounty hunter and works distraction jobs for Rangeman."

"Never heard of her." Carl was in Karvic's face.

"She's the Bombshell Bounty Hunter, she's been in all the papers. She's Morelli's ex-fiance for god's sake."

Karvic snorted. "Shit look at her. Morelli must like used merchandise, she looks like street trash."

"Karvic, the Chief will string you up by your balls. You gotta let her go."

Big Dog started to take the cuffs off me when Karvic snarled, "Touch those and I'll have you up before the Review Board for interference with an arrest."

Carl decided to give it a try. "Look, Detective, if you haven't formally arrested her, or haven't Mirandized her yet, you can just uncuff her and walk away. You haven't been in town long enough to know who all the players are here. Stephanie works for RangeMan. Ricardo Manoso, who owns RangeMan, does alot of work for and with the TPD. He's not somebody to piss off and you're interfering with his takedown here. The Chief is not gonna appreciate you stepping on Manoso's toes."

"I don't give a flying rat's ass who this Manoso guy is. As I see it, this here is a den of prostitution and it's gonna be shut down."

"Didn't you see the notice that this takedown was on the Board for tonight? RangeMan always contacts the TPD Vice Squad and every station in the city whenever they have one scheduled. Plus it's announced every shift change. How come you're the only one who managed to miss it?"

"Didn't miss it."

"So let me get this straight." Carl was dumbfounded. "You knew that there was gonna be a takedown here tonight, and you crashed it ... why?"

"I just don't think that some private company should get specialized treatment. The PD shouldn't stand back and let them tell us how to run our department."

"Karvic, one of the reasons you were hired here is because we're so seriously shorthanded. There aren't enough cops to go after skips for the courts. So exactly what have you accomplished besides fucking up the takedown on a child molester and rapist and snagging a legit bounty hunter? She's not a hooker and she'll walk anyway. I'm tellin' ya. Back off and let her go. Maybe they can still salvage this job."

"Yeah, yeah. You're still a uniform and I got a gold shield." He sneered at the guys. "Like I'm gonna listen to you."

Carl got into Karvic's face. "At least loosen the cuffs. You have her wrists bleeding. Look at her face for chrissakes. It's bad enough you're gonna be the laughing stock of Trenton for arresting The Bombshell Bounty Hunter, don't make yourself look like an ass by abusing her. You WANNA get charged with Police Brutality? You think RangeMan is gonna let this go? You're putting the noose arounnd your own neck." Karvic looked into Carl's face and leaned his head down, spat on Carl's shoe and walked away to talk to the young cop.

I looked from Carl to Big Dog. "Thanks for trying, guys. I appreciate it, but let it go. This guy's a real jerk. He's not gonna listen to anything anybody has to say. You might want to keep an eye on him, though. He knows that male cops don't do body searches on female detainees. If you guys are on the scene, that could involve you in something real ugly."

"He put his hands on you?" Big Dog was pissed. I gave him a quick nod. For all that the cops teased me and bet on my next dead car, they all cared about me, we were friends. I had known many of them since childhood and we shared a real concern for each other. If I needed them, they would be there for me. Like they were right now.

Big Dog stood with his hands on his hips and looked skyward. "Wait'll the Chief gets wind of this." He blew out a breath and shook his head. "There's gonna be hell to pay. I bet we all get shipped off to sensitivity training seminars."

The young cop came over and read Christie and me our rights and told us that we were under arrest. He gave us the list of charges Karvic was bringing against us. He seemed uncomfortable and I really couldn't blame him. We were surrounded by a sea of unhappy faces, RangeMen and cops alike. I could hardly wait for my mother to read about this in the paper. God, she was gonna be so proud.

The kid cop shifted his weight from one foot to the other before he turned to Carl. "Detective Karvic wants you guys to give me and my prisoner," he motioned to Christie, "a ride back to the station. He wants to take this prisoner in himself." He nodded his head towards me. The poor kid could barely meet Carl's eyes and he couldn't look at me at all. Carl squinted up his eyes and stared over at Karvic.

Could this night get any more nuts? Mauled, first by Ranger, then by Karvic, grossed out and possibly threatened by Tony, now cuffed and taking a solo ride with Karvic to who knows where? I was on overload here.

"Please guys, don't let him take me back to the station alone. I don't trust him." I was working on a good panic at the thought of being alone and cuffed with Karvic.

Big Dog gave me a pat on the shoulder. "Don't you worry Steph, we'll make sure you're safe." I knew they would take care of me. These were the good guys.

"Hey Karvic," Big Dog yelled over to him. "Cooper here says you want us to give him and one of the ladies here, a ride back to the station." Big Dog was loud enough that everybody in the lot heard what he said. All eyes turned to Karvic. Karvic stared back, but said nothing.

"Is this here a setup? You trying to get us to do something against regulations and then turn us in? Is this how you get your jollies, fucking with your fellow officers?" Big Dog's face was actually turning red.

"You know damned well that a cop can't ride in back in the cage with a prisoner. We can't fit three of us in the cruiser. You know that Cooper'll have to ride with you. What are you trying to pull?"

Karvic put his hands on his hips and looked at the ground. He made no effort to answer Big Dog. His face was red with anger but he kept his mouth shut, probably because of his audience of RangeMen and cops. He knew everybody was on to him and he wouldn't be getting away with anything. I felt a whole lot better now that I wasn't faced with a 'date' with my newest admirer. And after I was finished with him, Karvic was gonna be lucky if he still had the family jewels attached.

TBC ...

Please keep reviewing and telling me what you think. I'm depending on you, Readers, to let me know how it's going and if you're still enjoying the story.


	6. The Fishing Creel

As The Worm Turns!

Disclaimer: Any character that you recognize belongs to Janet Evanovich. Those that you don't are purely figments of my imagination. Except my buddy, she's real. Yup.

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Warnings: These characters are adults. They think, act, and speak like adults. If you are easily offended or are under the age of 18, please read no further.

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A/N: Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed. A special thank you to MagS for laughter, editing, lunacy, and general mayhem. Oh yeah, and cabana boys! sigh Hope you enjoy this chapter.

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As The Worm Turns! Chapter 6: The Fishing Creel

Karvic and Cooper, as I found out was the younger cop's name, put Christie and me into the backseat of their car. Christie would be charged with 'Interference with a Police Officer', and I had a whole string of charges to deal with. Cal had been released with a warning about soliciting prostitutes. This double standard crap really ticks me off! He had stayed as close to me as Karvic would allow, and never once took his eyes off me. He had seen first hand what kind of a cop Karvic was and Cal had morphed into bodyguard mode.

Tank had tried to talk to Karvic. He explained to the cop that we were duely authorized apprehension agents with all necessary legal paperwork in our possession. He told Karvic that we were working a distraction job to pick up one Anthony 'Tony' Panzarelli, a wanted felon, and that each RangeMan employee who was part of this team had the proper identification and credentials, including me. Karvic countered that, since I didn't have said paperwork on my person, if it looked like a duck and walked like a duck and talked like a duck, it must therefore, be a duck. Quack! I was outta luck and the arrest was good. All I could think of was Vinnie and his penchant for farm animals. Ewww!

Poor Cooper looked like he was ready to jump out of his skin. Every time he looked up at the furious Tank and equally angry Cal, he looked like he wanted to pee his pants. The poor kid was a new hire at the Trenton PD, fresh out of the Academy, and was doing ride alongs with different officers and detectives, learning the ropes and the city. He still had acne and looked about 15 years old. He was gonna take a lot of shit from his fellow cops; but if he listened to the right ones, he'd learn to be a good police officer. From the expression on Cooper's face as he watched Karvic, I'm pretty sure he already knew Karvic wasn't one of the good guys.

The trip to the police station looked more like a funeral procession than anything else. It was cops and RangeMen alike, not wanting Karvic to have a chance to get me alone. Carl and Big Dog led the way in their cruiser followed by us in Karvic's PD issued POS. Bobby and Lester followed in one truck, Tank and Cal followed in the Olds. Hal and Ram were in a RangeMan SUV while Hector and Vince were in another. Woody and Junior in their Bronco came next, and two more Rangemen who never left their vehicle in the first place, brought up the rear. Ranger was nowhere to be seen, his Porsche left behind in the parking lot at The Wharf. I noticed that it had a big dent in the fender. I wondered how that happened and if, somehow, that would wind up being all my fault, too.

We pulled into the secured police parking lot behind the station and stopped in front of the door. Cooper got out and helped Christie out of her side of the car. He walked her inside to the booking desk. Karvic was visibly pissed off at the entourage that had escorted us to the station. None to gently, he hauled me out of the backseat by my handcuffs, knowing he was hurting me. He looked at group of RangeMen who had piled out of their vehicles to witness this show and smirked. He wanted them to know who was in charge. Oh he was impressing the guys, all right, just not quite in the way he intended.

"Quite the little celebrity, aren't you, Sweetheart? You do 'em all or just a select few? You probably been on your knees in front of my jackass Chief." He practically snarled at me. I started to pray. Please, please, please God, let the mic still be working. The expression on my face probably told him exactly what I thought of him because he gave me a hard shove between my shoulder blades that sent me to the ground. With my hands cuffed behind me, I couldn't catch myself. I hit on my knees and slid over onto my right arm. Great! Now I get to add roadrash to the rest of the bumps and bruises. I felt, rather than saw, the entire RangeMan crew took a collective step forward. Unfortunately, Karvic wasn't smart enough to be threatened by them. He leaned down and pulled me to my feet by the cuffs. It felt like he was going to dislocate my shoulders and I let out a yelp. I couldn't help it. It hurt!

"Karvic." Tank yelled. "Smile, asshole." Tank held up his camera phone and took a picture. He looked at me, touched his ear, and gave me a slow nod. I didn't need RangeMan ESP to get the message. Ha! Gotcha, Karvic! Payback's a bitch!

Carl and Big Dog jogged over to me as soon as I hit the ground. When they tried to help me up, Karvic growled at them to back off, which they reluctantly did. After all, Karvic had seniority, based on his detective's shield and he could try to make trouble for them. Even if it didn't stick, the question mark would still hang over their heads. Apparently, he had little regard for his fellow officers, though, because he didn't treat them any better than the perps.

"You two," he called to Big Dog and Carl, "This here is a secured police parking lot. Clear out the goon squad, they don't belong here. This is for authorized use only. Try to look busy and don't make fools outta yourselves. Go write 'em tickets or something." He was refering to the RangeMen, of course.

Carl looked at Big Dog and did an eye roll that would have made any 'Burg girl proud. "No can do Karvic, every RangeMan and RangeMan vehicle is authorized to use this lot. This time, you obviously don't know who you fucked with. If I were you, I'd duck and cover my balls right now. Would you like us to escort Miss Plum inside for you? It'll give you a head start outta town. You know, before the Chief puts that target on your ass."

I could feel Karvic stiffen at the sarcasm. "You better watch your step, Costanza. I can and will have you charged with insubordination. You better show me some respect."

Carl just snorted and turned to Big Dog. "So who's gonna run the book on this one? I have Ranger within 24 hours."

Big Dog shook his head. "Nah, I'll take Steph in 24." He gave me a big grin. I tried to smile back, but I hurt in too damned many places to appreciate the humor.

Karvic just grabbed my arm harder and pulled me toward the door. Big Dog held the door open and Carl walked behind us. I was limping because of my skinned and bloody knees, so I wasn't walking as fast as Karvic liked. He kept giving me little pushes. Big Dog took my arm to steady me.

Karvic, Carl, and Big Dog, escorted me to the booking desk, where Karvic shoved me onto a bench next to Christie. Christie's hands had been uncuffed from behind her back. Now one wrist was cuffed to an eyebolt in the bench while she waited to go through the booking process. She looked completely relaxed and at ease, like she was waiting to renew her library card, or something. I, on the other hand, felt like I needed to throw up.

Word of my arrest had spread like wild fire and practically every cop at the precinct was standing around the booking desk waiting for me to be brought in. Strangely enough, no money was changing hands and nobody was laughing. Eddie Gazzara, who's married to my cousin, Shirley the Whiner, came over and sat next to me. He looked me over pretty closely and did not look happy.

"You're gonna have one hell of a mouse there, Toots." He was looking at my eye, which I could feel had swollen almost shut.

"Carl and Big Dog said that he put his hands on you. True?" I felt my face start to burn. I lowered my eyes and nodded.

"What happened to you knees?"

"Fell in the parking lot.

"Uh huh. You have some help with that, too?" I nodded again. I could hear Eddie grind his teeth.

I looked at all the cops, standing around talking quietly with the RangeMen. "Eddie, what's going on? Why is everybody so quiet? Usually when I come in here it's like a circus, what gives?"

"Well, to start with, nobody around here likes Karvic. He's new here and already has a bad rep. He's the kind of cop that gives every other cop a bad name. He has this superior attitude, like he's better than everybody else, and he's just not a team player. You know how this works, Steph. We all depend on each other to watch our backs. RangeMan is the same way. It's a brotherhood and Karvic isn't a member of the family. You are. Both at RangeMan and here. Yeah, we tease you and joke and bet on your cars, but you're as much a part of this team as if you were in uniform. We're here to support you."

All I could do was lean my head against Eddie's shoulder. "Thank you, Eddie."

Eddie called over to Karvic. "Hey, isn't it time you uncuffed this vicious criminal that you dragged in here?"

Every head, cop and RangeMan alike, turned to look at Karvic. "Not until it's her turn at the desk. And what's it to you, anyway. She blowing you, too? Looks like everybody in this place had that piece of ass!"

You could actually hear the guys growl and mutter to one another. I had the feeling that there'd be a lot of volunteers when payback time for Karvic came around. Or at least a lot of guys who'd want to watch the show.

Eddie turned back to me and lowered his voice so only I could hear. "Tank asked me to tell you that they already have the security tape from the bar's parking lot. Your mic is still working and every word has been recorded back at Rangeman. I'm going right now to copy the video from our parking lot here. Whatever you decide to do with that evidence, I'm behind you all the way. We all are." All the while he was holding my hands, which were still cuffed behind my back.

"I owe you, big time, Eddie." He gave me an evil grin.

"Babysitting. You can pay me back by babysitting. Shirley and I haven't been out since Ally was born."

I groaned. I loved Eddie, but his kids were the devil's spawn. The last time I stayed with the little heathens they tried to tie me to a kitchen chair with a slinky. They intended to put the cat in the washing machine. Luckily, the cat had other ideas and Eddie's kids still bear the scars.

The booking officer turned out to be Robin Russell. She was on desk duty since she had come off medical leave. Robin had been badly injured when she responded to a 'robbery in progress' call at a little mom and pop grocery store right outside the 'Burg. Robin had barely gotten out of her cruiser when the lookout, a 14 year old kid with a gun bigger than he was, opened fire. Robin had taken a round in the thigh that had nicked an artery and shattered the bone. She had been very lucky. A fellow cop had stemmed the blood flow and saved her life. She'd had several surgeries to repair the bone and months of rehab, but was now back on the job.

Robin took one look at me and the crowd of cops and RangeMen standing in front of her desk, and immediately thought it was a joke. I guess when she noticed my eye and bloody knees, she realized that the joke was on me.

"Jesus, Steph, what's going on? What idiot hauled you in? My god, you're a mess!"

"Hey!" Karvic yelled. "This ain't the ladies room, girls, you can talk about your periods later." He looked at Robin. "I hope you like riding a desk, honey, 'cause at the rate you're going, that's all you'll ever do." The man truly was a fool. It was bad enough that he gave me a hard time, but to treat one of his own that way was unforgivable. The reaction from the cops around the desk should have sent him that message loud and clear. How the hell did this guy ever get to be a cop in the first place?

Robin tried to have mercy on me and book me first, but my friend Karvic objected. She stood up to him and he finally relented and uncuffed me. My wrists were bloody and bruised, and my shoulders and arms ached. I slowly brought them around to my front and hugged myself to relieve the cramping. Tank came over to sit by me while Christie was being booked. I know he meant well. He tried to massage my shoulders and arms but I couldn't stand the feel of his hands on me. I felt dirty after being mauled by Karvic.

Karvic grabbed my hand and snapped the cuffs on one wrist and locked it to the eyebolt in the bench. Eddie left to get the security tape from the police parking lot. Tank stayed with me on the bench and I leaned my head against his arm. He looked down at me, studying me.

"Robin said it'll be another hour at least, before they get to you. They brought in a bunch of the Diablos and the Kings. They gotta get them booked and into cells before all hell breaks loose back there." Rival gang members in the same room was definitely not a good thing. Along with the gang members came their girlfriends. The girls were worse that the guys. Even sitting out here we could hear them screaming and cursing at one another. This was gonna be one hell of a night in the tank.

"RangeMan's sending the lawyer." I noticed he didn't say Ranger. I guess he'd be happy just to leave me to rot in jail. Then he wouldn't have to decide which hellhole to ship me off to. I just shrugged and nodded my head. Tank went on. "At least nobody can blame you for this screw up. We'll have to find out who was supposed to liaison between RangeMan and the TPD. Find out why the PD wasn't informed."

"Big Dog and Carl asked Karvic how he missed the notice that a takedown was scheduled at The Wharf tonight." I told him. "He said he didn't miss it. He went there on purpose. I don't know what he hoped to gain, though."

Tank looked at me. "Personally, I want to know why Karvic here wouldn't back off. Do you know him? Ever had a run in with him or anything like that?"

I raised my head and gave Tank my best 'Burg death glare and he shuddered when he saw it. "This . is . not . my . fault." I hissed at him. "Honest to God! I never saw him before. I never heard of him, never met him. Nothing! You can't hang this one on me. I didn't screw up!"

"Okay, okay, Bombshell! I got it." He patted my hand, "Take it easy. We'll figure this out."

"Oh sure you will. But before or after I have to spend the night in jail? I'm allowed to be pissed at this point, Tank. Another distraction job gone bad because of something I have no control over and everybody gets to go home but ME. This is just flippin' great! I'm angry, hungry, tired, and I ache all over. Could this day get any worse?"

I shouldn't have even let that thought cross my mind much less my lips. It's like the gods who hate me heard my question and said, "Why Stephanie, let us show you." There I was, just sitting on a bench, minding my own business, not hurting anybody. I heard a small laugh and I looked up into the face of the perfectly coiffed, perfectly made up, perfectly dressed Terri Gilman, Trenton's resident fashionista and Mafia Princess. I groaned. Just let me die now, God. Please, just let me die now.

"Why Stephanie Plum, whatever are you doing here?" she purred. "Love what you've done with your hair, but the outfit is a little ... obvious, even for you, don't you think?" She made a point of looking me over.

Tank came to my rescue. "Something we can do for you Terri, or are you just here waiting for a relative?" Terri's uncle, Vito Grizzolli was the capo of the Grizzolli crime family. That's Family with a capital 'F'. Everybody knew that Terri worked for her uncle as a liaison with the more ... um, legitimate side of certain New Jersey businesses. She also served in several other capacities, none of which were normally discussed in public. The inherent fear of being dressed in a pair of cement shoes before you took a swim in the Delaware River pretty much removed Uncle Vito and Family as a topic of local conversation. It's a pretty fair bet that Uncle Vito has first hand knowledge of where Jimmy Hoffa was buried.

Terri and I had gone to high school together. She was two years ahead of me and was the cheerleader that Joe Morelli dated. Morelli was my ex-on again-off again boyfriend. Yeah, yeah, and you think you're confused. Anyhow, Terri and Joe dated all through high school and I figure she must have had it really bad for him back then. Joe was a dog who used the girls in Trenton like they were disposable. Use 'em once, and throw 'em away. When I was sixteen, I was one of those disposable girls. He'd always gone back to Terri, but he flaunted all those girls right under her nose. Considering her 'Family' history, I'm surprised Joe came out alive and intact, if you know what I mean.

Joe and I had a two-year on and off relationship, all during which I had heard rumors about him cheating on me with Terri. Naturally, Joe emphatically denied those rumors. Recently, I had discovered hard evidence of the cheating, said hard evidence being Joe's dick in Terri's mouth. It had been mutually agreed that there was no future for us as a couple. Of course, that decision had been made in the middle of Pino's parking lot at high noon, with spectators actually standing on their cars to get a better view. The local cell phone towers in Trenton were so overloaded that not even 911 calls got through for a couple of hours. I had to apologize to Pino because his entire lunchtime crowd was out in the parking lot watching the show.

Luckily, he forgave me. Now, Pino wants to name a sandwich after me. The Stephanie Plum will consist of Italian bread with fra diavlo sauce for fire, mozzarella cheese for softness, spicy peppers for bite, and two large meatballs for ... well, ya know. The Joe Morelli sandwich is only sausage on a bun, no ... um ... balls. Only me!

I figured that Terri and Joe could probably make a go of it except for the fact that a cop hooking up with a Mafia Princess probably wasn't the smartest career move on his part. I couldn't see Joe working for the Family business, so I wondered how they were going to work it out. I really did wish them well. Okay, I wished Joe well; I wished Terri was IN a well.

"Why Terri, how lovely to see you again." 'Burg manners almost always win out, almost. I gave her my sweetest smile. Considering the position I had discovered her in, and I do mean that literally, I have to admit that I was pretty surprised that she had the guts to speak to me. I guess she felt safe because I was cuffed to a bench. I really was over the whole 'my boyfriend cheated on me with a Mafia hit whore' thing. Joe and I really were better off apart. It was her smugness that made my hackles stand up. I just wanted to bring her down a few pegs. At least down to my current level.

"What brings you to our little party tonight? Just slumming, or are you here to press charges against the guy who did that latest Botox job on your face?" I tried to show my true concern for her well being. Really!

Terri flushed a bright pink and she raised a hand to her cheek. "I have no idea what you could possibly mean, Stephanie." Ha! I had obviously hit a nerve, probably the only non-Botoxed one in her head. It was a well know fact that Terri had an obsessive fear of aging. Even though she was only a couple of years older than me, she indulged in every spa and non-surgical cosmetic treatment out there. From spa wraps to collagen to sheep placenta injections, she had tried them all and Botox had become her new drug of choice. Terri was the cosmesutical queen of Trenton.

"Well, you are looking a little ... waxen these days. Oh, I can understand why you went the Botox route. I know just how much Joe likes his women to be on top, and when you're leaning over him, all those little sags and lines... well, I understand the role gravity plays. It's just that this time, I think whoever did it went a little too far. That is unless they're doing Botox at Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum? You really should be more careful who you choose for these ... um ... treatments. Remember the Collagen fiasco a few years ago? You know, when you had that whole platypus thing going on with your lips?"

Next to me, I heard Tank choke. The big man excused himself and fled. Terri had gone from pink to red and was now pushing purple. I still gave her my most innocent smile, with just the slightest touch of sympathy and understanding. This probably wasn't one of my smarter ideas, Terri being a hit woman and all. But God had given me this opportunity for a little retribution. Who was I to turn down a gift from God?

Terri's hand moved to her bag and I was hoping she was going for her gum, not her gun. I was really getting nervous here, when I was startled by a loud noise. I turned my head and saw Jeanne Ellen Burrows leaning against the wall, a small, satisfied smile on her face, clapping slowly. She wasn't looking at me ... her eyes were on Terri. Jeanne Ellen pushed off the wall and sauntered over to where I was sitting, still looking at Terri. From the expressions on both their faces I could tell that they had some unresolved issues.

"I think you should leave now, Terri. Steph has won this round hands down. You can't compete, so don't even try. Just toddle along." She made a shooing motion with her hands. Jeanne Ellen sat on the bench next to me, her elbows on the back of the bench. She crossed her long, black leather clad legs and swung her booted foot slightly. Terri, vibrating with anger, spun on her heel and stalked through the back door of the station. I just gaped at Jeanne Ellen in stunned silence.

Okay, in 25 words or less, Jeanne Ellen Burrows is the female version of Ranger. She works for Les Sebring Bail Bonds and only does high-end skips. I think of Jeanne Ellen as Catwoman to Ranger's Batman. She's very tall with a slim, athletic build that's always encased from neck to heels in black leather. With pale blonde hair and icy blue eyes, she's a striking and beautiful woman. It's also rumored that she had a relationship of sorts with Ranger. Jeanne Ellen and I aren't friends, but we aren't enemies either.

"Gosh," I said, "That went well. I take it that you and Terri aren't exactly best buds." She smiled at me and chuckled softly.

"No. We aren't members of a mutual admiration society, that's for sure. So why are you cuffed to a bench, Steph?"

"Distraction job gone bad. Cop named Karvic bumbled into it and I'm here on Prostitution and assorted other charges."

She turned to look at me. "That's exactly why I don't do distractions anymore. You're at the mercy of the people who do the set ups, but when things go wrong, YOU pay the price, not them." She shook her head. "Listen, when you get this straightened out, why don't you give me a call. I think I have a proposition that would be mutually beneficial." She took her business card out and wrote a phone number on the back and stuck it in my back pocket. "That's my private number. Call me and we'll do lunch. Do you need anything? Lawyer, bail money?" I shook my head no, and with that, she got up and left the station.

Well, I'll be go to hell! I felt like I had a starring role in a Twilight Zone episode. To say that this whole evening had been surreal was an understatement. I was waiting for the elephants in pink tutus to come twirling through. Jeanne Ellen Burrows, asking me to lunch. Will wonders never cease!

TBC ...

Please keep reading and reviewing. Let me know how I'm doing and where you think this story is going!


	7. A School of Fish

As The Worm Turns!

Disclaimer: All the characters that you recognize belong to Janet Evanovich, even Ranger. Those characters that are new, are figments of my imagination.

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Warnings: These characters are adults. They think, act, and speak like adults. If you are easily offended, or are underage, please read no further.

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A/N: Thanks to all those who reviewed, offering words of encouragement and advice. Please keep 'em coming. Mags, thanks for everything: friendship, laughter, sympathy, empathy, lunacy, confession, depression, obsession ... Oh please stop me ...

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Chapter 7: A School of Fish

I was sitting there, thinking about what lunch with Jeanne Ellen would be like when the back door of the station slammed open and two cops came in dragging a pair of teenaged girls. The girls were a wreck. Their hair was on end, clothes torn. One girl had a split lip, her knee torn out of her jeans and clumps of her braids were missing. The other was missing a shoe, was working on a great black eye, and had the sleeeve of her shirt torn off. A couple of the gang guys waiting in the hall were laughing and egging them on, encouraging them to fight, yelling things like, 'Show her how much you love me, baby!' The girls were screeching and kicking at one another, and even though they were both cuffed, were trying to throw themselves at each other. The two big cops really had to struggle to keep them apart. They were cuffed to the bench on either side of me, and continued to fight over, under, and around me. I did my best 'Rocky' impression and ducked and dodged their fists and feet.

Finally, I had enough. I was not going to be pummeled by two idiot girls who's IQs rivaled their bra sizes. "Cut it out!" I bellowed at the top of my lungs. "What the hell is the matter with you two?" They were so surprised by my outburst that they shut up and and calmed down.

"What's your name?" I barked at the one on my right.

"Marisol Espinosa." I held out my uncuffed hand and we shook.

I turned to the one on my left. "And your's?"

"Shaniqua Lewis." We shook hands, too.

"Marisol, Shaniqua, my name is Stephanie Plum. I'm a bounty hunter, you may have heard of me." I could see by their expressions that they knew who I was. Since I had their attention, I figured I had nothing to lose.

"Ladies, I'm gonna talk to you woman to woman. You are trying to beat the shit out of one another over a couple of guys who don't give a damn about either one of you. If they cared so much, they'd be trying to protect you instead of having you put on a show for their buddies. It pumps up their egos to have their friends think that they can control you like that. They say jump, you ask how high."

Man, was I ever on a roll! "Have they passed you around to their friends yet? Don't look so surprised. That's next. 'Oh if you love me, Baby, you'll do this for me.' Then they don't want you back anymore because you've been used too many times. They'll start charging guys for you, pimping you out. They'll be out looking for fresh meat and you won't be a girlfriend, you'll be a 'ho. By the time you're 16 - 17 - 18, you'll be all used up. Is that really what you want?"

"I just got out of a long term relationship with a nice guy who said he loved me, but wanted to change everything about me, from my job to my friends to what I wanted out of life. If I loved him, I would change for him."

"I have a wonderful family who all think that if I would just get married and have babies, they could be happy. But that's not what 'I' want. I work for RangeMan and I'm a bounty hunter. I like my job, most of the time. A lot of it's hard work, a lot of it's boring, and I'm not always successful. But I'm living the life 'I' choose. I feed and clothe and house myself. I can stand on my own two feet. I don't need a man to take care of me. If there's a man in my life, it's by my choice, not because I'm desperate."

"You see, it doesn't matter how old we are, what color we are, where we live, we're women and that makes us second class citizens in alot of eyes. But it's only true if we allow it. Don't let somebody else run your lives. Who knows, you two might be best friends. You already have one thing in common. You both have asshole boyfriends. As women, we're supposed to stick together and build each other up, not tear each other down."

Shaniqua and Marisol eyed one another suspiciously, but stopped the fighting. They sat quietly, hopefully mulling over what I had said.

Jeez! When did I become a feminist? Dr. Phil would be so proud of me! Maybe I found a new calling? Stephanie Plum, Motivational Speaker and Career Counselor. Snerk! Morelli and my Mom would bust a gut over that one!

Robin Russell finally rescued me from the bench and took me through to Booking. She uncuffed my hands and could see what a mess my wrists were. It was obvious to everybody that Karvic had done this on purpose. Eddie walked into the Booking Room and handed me a small plastic bag of ice for my eye, took one look at my wrists, and left to get the first aid kit.

Eddie dug around in the kit and came up with a can of spray-on antiseptic and some bandages. Christie played Nancy Nurse and wrapped me up the best she could. Robin slipped me a couple of Advil and a bottle of water, then had to hurry away. The two gang girls from the bench, Marisol and Shaniqua, had gotten their hands on their respective boyfriends and were rolling them around on the floor, intent upon murder. I swear to God I had nothing to do with it! This was gonna be one helluva a long night.

Several sets of fingerprints and my GlamourShots later, I was sitting at a desk while Robin filled out the medical history and other forms that would follow me through the system. She assessed my physical condition and asked if I wanted to go to the Emergency Room at St. Francis to have my eye checked out. We looked at each other and burst into laughter at the ridiculous thought. As it was, my arrest would be on the front page of the paper. A trip to the ER would probably make television.

Luckily, Robin was in a position to make a judgement call. Seeing that I was covered in fresh blood, and blood being a bodily fluid, she made the decision that I should be allowed to clean up and a change into a prison jumpsuit. With Christie sitting next to me, it was easy to smear some of my blood on her clothes, too. Ooops! Christie needed a change of clothes, also. Robin ushered us into a small room in the booking section. She gave us each an orange jumpsuit, a pair of flip flops, and a packet of wet wipes. We also received lovely grey plastic trash bags to put our clothing in. These bags would be held for us until we were released.

We did the best we could with the wet wipes. At least I got most of the blood and all of my makeup off. Christie cleaned up far better than I did. With her makeup gone and her hair down, she looked like a misplaced college girl. I, on the other hand, looked like I was done up for a part in a slice and dice movie. I looked like the victim.

The jail was crowded with all the usual denizens who occupied the place, but the rival gang members and their rival gang girlfriends were an extra added attraction. Every spare inch of the jail was filled. Fights broke out, threats screamed, people were cursing, crying, it was bedlam.

Due to my 'star' status as a bounty hunter, I normally would have been placed in my own cell. This would have served to protect me from any of my disgruntled skips that might be visiting tonight. However, because of the circumstances, I was housed in the holding tank with the rest of the general overnight population. They say that every experience you have, teaches you something. What I learned from my night here is that, please God, I never want to go to jail, ever, in my life, again! Never ever! Amen!

There was 'standing room only' in the tank, not that the accommodations are all that luxurious anyway. Built-in metal benches lined the walls, a single open toilet with no toilet paper, I might add, bright florescent lights, a mesh covered drain hole in the middle of the floor, security cameras and a single metal door with a window in it, were the standard fixtures. There was nothing that wasn't nailed down or couldn't be hosed down at the end of the night.

Tonight's guests offered something for everybody. There were drunks, joy riders, druggies, 'hos, shoplifters, the homeless, hopeless, and scared shitless. I fell somewhere in that last category. There were also several 'ladies' whom I had brought in for failure to appear. Wouldn't you know that they'd recognize me.

Carole Scardullo, Mitchy Holbert, Bertie Longo, and Vivi DellaPietro were all skips that I had brought in at least once.

Carole Scardullo was a 40 year old, perfect 'Burg housewife. She had smacked her husband in the head with a skillet, giving him a concussion, and had thrown the evidence into a 'Burg pond. She had truly forgotten her court date the time that I had to pick her up, being home with six kids and no car. When she told me that her husband, Benny, was running around on her with Joyce Barnhardt and had given Carole an STD, I made sure we stopped at the Tasty Pastry for coffee and donuts, giving Connie time to get to the Courthouse to rebond her. I figured that Carole deserved a medal. I checked up on her regularly, bringing comfort food with me. I wondered why she was back in jail. Ohhh! Maybe she clocked Joyce this time?

Mitchy Holbert was a sweet, innocent, twenty-something blonde. She must have gotten by on her looks her whole life, because she was a dumb as a box of rocks. Blonde jokes don't do her justice. She had gotten caught, repeatedly, for buying drugs for her coked up boyfriend who had told her that, since she didn't use the drugs, she wouldn't get in trouble. After the first time, you'd think she would have learned. But not our Mitchy. I had a friend who has an upscale lingerie shop and I helped Mitchy get a job as a model there. Totally above board, folks! No funny business, honest! But here sat Mitchy ... again.

Vivi DellaPietro was about 75 years old and was a friend of my Grandma Mazur. Usually you saw them together, especially if there was trouble involved. I don't know which one of them was worse. At the funeral home, Vivi worked distraction while Grandma pried open the lids at the closed casket funerals. The philosophy being that if they went to all the trouble to get dressed up and go to the viewing, there should be something to view. More often than not, they were both escorted to the curb and driven home by Trenton's finest. To them, this was almost as big a payoff as seeing the deceased. Personally, I think the payoff was the shade of green that my mother's face would turn when she saw the patrol car roll up in front of the house with Grandma inside.

Bertie Longo was a regular. She stood about 5'1", weighed over 300lbs and could have been anywhere from 30 to 50 years old. With her boot camp haircut, jeans, flannel shirts, and cowboy boots, it would be easy to mistake Bertie for a guy. She drove semis carrying hazardous waste to government approved dumping sites. But Bertie liked to drink. I guess if I was hauling all that toxic shit around the country I'd need to drink, too. Her big problem was that she didn't hold her liquor well. Bertie was a mean drunk. Mean drunks like to fight and Bertie was no exception. She could and did beat the living snot out of anyone and everyone on a regular basis. And now, Bertie had her eye on me.

"Hey!" she yelled. "You're that bounty hunter bitch, ain't cha?"

Well yeah, that would be me, but I wasn't gonna admit that to her. I tried to play it cool and didn't even look her way.

"Hey, Curly!" I had an urge to look for Larry and Moe.

"Hey, Chubby! You ain't so brave now that you're on this side of the door are ya?"

Chubby? Oh no, no, no, no, no! She certainly couldn't be speaking to me. It was like the pot calling the kettle black. I had to resist the temptation to do a Robert de Niro, 'Taxi Driver' number, you know, a 'You talkin' ta me?' routine. Oh, Bertie was good. She really knew how to get somebody's dander up. Chubby! Humpf! There wasn't an once of fat on me! If I had a few shots under my belt, them id be fightin' words. Stone cold sober they were fighting words. But I'm not stupid. I'm not fighting Bertie, nuh uhn, nope, niet, nein, not me.

Bertie had gotten up and was weaving her way over to me. She was red in the face and her hands were curled into fists. Since there was no where to sit except the floor, Christie and I had been standing back to back, leaning against each other, on the far side of the tank. As Bertie approached, Christie moved so that we stood shoulder to shoulder. Bertie weighed more than both of us put together and if she could do Lula's butt thumping move, Christie and I were in deep shit.

"Are you nuts, Christie? Get over on the other side of the room, get out of her way. She's after me, not you. I'm gonna need you in one piece to drag my body back to my parents."

"Girlfriend, we're in this together. All for one and one for all."

"Yeah well, that's great, but we're a few Musketeers short of a movie here."

"Ohhhh, don't think so." Christie wore a smile that could have lit up all of Trenton. She gave a nod and Carole, Mitchy, and Vivi, as well as Shaniqua and Marisol, two gang girls from the bench, stood up with us. We all folded our arms over our chests and glared at Bertie.

Bertie stopped and looked at our intrepid group. "I only wanna pound Chubby into a pulp. I got no beef with the rest of you. Go sit down and watch the show." She gave an evil grin. "I'll try not to get blood on ya."

"Ya big bully! Why don't you go pick on somebody your own size? You're just a meany!" Too bad Mitchy wasn't as smart as she was brave. She had this breathy little voice so she sounded like a Saturday morning cartoon character. Bertie put the tips of her index fingers on Mitchy's shoulders and gave a little push and Mitchy went flying. Crap! I was in real trouble here!

Carole stepped in front of me and looked Bertie in the eye. "My psychiatrist told me that I have alot of pent up rage over my husband cheating on me. He suggested that I take up boxing as a physical activity. He said that it would make me feel better. I think he may be right. Wanna be my first 'physical activity'?" She flexed her fists, holding them up like a prizefighter. Bertie snorted, grabbed Carole by the elbows, picked her up and tossed her aside. Carole landed on her ass about 10 feet away.

Bertie pushed past everyone in her way. She had blood in her eye and I was starting to sweat. Most of the other women in the tank were scrambling to move out of the line of fire. A couple were trying to attract the attention of the guards with no success. The guards were trying to quell a gang war.

She had almost reached me when Vivi marched over and stood in front of Bertie, all 90 scrawny pounds of her. She had her hands on her hips and her chin jutted out defiantly. Bertie stopped and sneered at Vivi and raised her hand to shove Vivi aside. Vivi leaned in and whispered into Bertie's ear. Bertie stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes bugged out and she turned ashen. Sweat broke out on her forehead and upper lip.

"I ... I ... I'm just gonna go sit back down over there. Okay? Hey, Chubby, uh, Curly, um What-ever-your-name-is, I was just playin with ya. I didn't mean nothin by it. Just had a little too much to drink, ya know? I'll be good, won't make no trouble. Okay? Okay." And she turned around and went back to the bench where she had been sitting before.

All eyes turned to Vivi who was brushing her hands off. She looked around at all of us. "What?"

"Well, excuse us, but what just happened here? You just stopped a charging bull! What did you say to her?" Christie demanded.

"All I said was, 'My last name is DellaPietro.' That's all." Vivi smiled angelically at us. We all looked at her blankly. Huh?

Vivi sighed deeply. "Vincent DellaPietro?" Nothing. "He works for the New Jersey State EPA." Still nothing from us. "He issues permits for all the truck drivers who haul hazardous waste in New Jersey." The light bulbs flashed on over each of our heads. You couldn't physically threaten Bertie, but threaten her job and she'd back right down. I'd have to remember that the next time I had to bring her in.

"So is he your son or something?" Carole wanted to know.

"Nope! Never met him, no relation but I figured I had nothing to lose. The worst that could happen is that Chubby here, would get pounded. Plus, I owe your Grandma, big time,for tonight."

Oh Lord, I was afraid to ask. You know what I mean, when you just know that the answer to the question is gonna be something you just don't want to hear, but you ask it anyway? So I asked.

"Thanks for stopping Bertie, Vivi, but why do you owe my Grandma? Do I want to know what happened?"

"Well, Edna and me were hot wiring Carmine Tagliaboo's 1968 Camero. It's cherry! Four on the floor, dual quads, cheater slicks, a real beauty. Anyway, Edna got hold of the wrong wires I guess, and the car alarm went off. Almost gave me a heart attach! Horn blowing, lights flashing, siren screaming, all the neighbors coming out. Took Edna by surprise and she smacked her head on the bottom of the steering wheel. She got a little dizzy so we couldn't make our get away and Carmine came out with his six shooter. Betcha when he was younger he looked real sexy with that hogleg strapped to his thigh. But he's real thin now, real scrawny, and that holster just kinda hangs off his ass. Not that he's got an ass anymore. Shame really."

The heck with Grandma Mazur, I was dizzy at this point and I still had no clue why Vivi owed Grandma.

"Vivi, what happened?" My teeth were clinched and I wasn't exactly whispering at this point.

"Ya don't have to yell about it! Carmine didn't have his glasses on, them coke bottle kind, he's blind as a bat without them. Anyhow, he couldn't see that it was Edna and me and fired off a shot. It hit the front bumper of the Camero and ricocheted off and hit the Bucchi's mailbox, across the street. You know, the one that looks like a flying duck? It was amazing! Like a boomarang, it came right back to Carmine and hit him in that scrawny ass of his. He went down, yellin. Somebody called the cops and told 'em there was a shoot out on Johnston Avenue. The boys in blue got there real fast."

I hid my face in my hands. My mother was probably knocking back water glasses of Johnny Walker Black and ironing the neighbor's toilet paper. I had no idea what she'd do for stress relief when she found out that I had been arrested for prostitution.

"And? What then?"

"Carl and Big Dog tried to hustle us into a patrol car and take us home but Edna and me decided we wanted to go to the pokey 'cause we ain't never been arrested before. Those boys had the nerve to tell us they wouldn't haul us in. So we started yellin 'Police brutality!' and I swung my purse at Big Dog but missed him and nailed Edna instead. Knocked her right on her ass. And Edna, God bless her, had me charged with assault and here I am. Thanks to your Grandma."

Every mouth in the holding cell was hanging open. I've heard of mass hysteria but this was more like mass surreal experience. I didn't even know what to say to her.

"So why were you trying to steal the Camero in the first place?" I told you Mitchy wasn't too bright.

"It was all Carmine's fault. He wined me and dined me and lured me to his house and took advantage of me!" Vivi was irate.

"You mean to tell me that old man tried something? He put the moves on you?" This came from the gang girlfriends.

"Yeah, the son of a bitch! He got me there under false pretenses. Got me all hot and bothered and then couldn't perform! Told me he couldn't get it up for years but that I was such a hottie he thought it might work. So Edna and me decided to take his Camero for a joyride. I figured I'd get at least one thrill out of the night! But best of all, the cops think that Edna and me got that Oldtimer's Disease. Now we can do anything we want and they'll just think we're nuts! Now we can really have some fun!"

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Maybe I should have let Bertie beat me unconscious. At least I wouldn't be awake to hear all this. I should probably get down on my knees and thank God that Grandma Mazur was safe at home and not here in the holding cell, tormenting me. I should get down on my knees and pray for my mother. Grandma Mazuris home, tormenting HER!

Every once in a while Eddie would pass the door and check up on us. At some point still frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and bottles of water were passed out. Much as I love my peanut butter, I just couldn't look at it and passed my food over to Bertie who needed it a whole lot more than I did. I sipped at the water and wished there was someplace to sit down.

During the night, Vivi had been released. Grandma had dropped the charges after she got home and my Dad had threatened to send her to the old folks' home. Carole was also released. We found out that she had threatened to deflate Joyce Barnhardt's fake boobs with a cake tester. Joyce had taken the threat seriously and had filed a complaint. Trenton's finest had determined that it was an idle threat, but told Carole that if she ever decided to go through with it, she should call them first so they could sell tickets. The Police Benovelent Association stood to make a fortune.

Mitchy had finally taken enough from the coke head. She had taken everything he owned and had thrown it out the window into the alley behind their apartment building. A can of lighter fluid and a match had made a very pretty little bonfire. The cops thought it was arson, but the arson investigator thought that a girl as sweet as Mitchy wasn't capable of doing anything like that. He declined to press charges, but he did press her for a date. Go Mitchy!

Bertie would be released as soon as she sobered up. Right now she was sprawled out on the benches, snoring like a longshoreman. Shaniqua and Marisol refused to press charges against each otherand they were released into the custody of their parents. Both girls hugged me and thanked me as they left. It was decided that our little group would have regular meetings to keep in touch. As long as it was at the Tasty Pastry, I really didn't care, but I would draw the line at Tshirts and secret handshakes.

The rest of the night passed pretty uneventfully, well, comparatively speaking.A couple of drunks got into a scuffle, another woman cried and wailed all night, people talked, some laughed, some dozed, one girl went into labor, somebody was singing hymns, and under it all, we could hear the gang members screaming at each other. Christie stretched out her long legs and crossed them at the ankles, folded her arms over her chest and slept. Amazing! I was just this side of catatonic, but sleep wouldn't come. I felt like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz ... 'There's no place like home, There's no place like home, There's no place like home ...'

TBC ...

Blackmail time! If you want me to continue, and bring back Ranger, you have to review. Am I doing okay? Is it awful? Tell me what YOU think should happen. Thanks! Oh Raaanger ... you're in the next chaaapter!


	8. Off The Hook!

Disclaimer: Any character that you recognize belongs to Janet Evanovich. Any newbies belong to my imagination.

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Warnings: These characters are adults. They think, act, and speak like adults. If you are easily offended or are underage, please read no further.

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A/N: Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed. Any and all comments and criticisms are welcomed. Thanks MagS, for everything from laughs, to editing, to amateur psychology and mental health moments. Margaritas and Nacho anyone? If you haven't already read it, please take a look at 'Batman's Underwear' posted on this site. Thanks!

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As The Worm Turns!

Chapter 8: Off The Hook!

By the time morning came, I was so far past tired that I was lightheaded and dizzy. I guess after the adrenaline high from last night, I crashed hard. I was exhausted, both emotionally and physically. The only thing I would have been willing to exert any energy on was murdering Ranger, slowly and painfully. I'm no dummy, I knew damned good and well that he could have gotten me out of here right after I was booked. But did he do that? Nooooo! Was he gonna pay? Oh hell yeah, big time!

It was almost 9am by the time Christie and I were recuffed and our feet shackled. We were 'chain-ganged' with a number of other holding tank residents. Eddie led us between the holding cells housing the gangs to get to the bus that would take us to the County Courthouse. Tank had showed up to follow us there and take us back home when the court proceedings were over. He told us that our lawyer had already pled our case and our appearance was simply a formality. He assured us that everything would go smoothly and we'd be home in no time. I hoped so, because I was adding every extra minute here to the tab that Ranger didn't even know he was running. Payback was a bitch. And I was just the bitch to pay him back!

The gang members must have had a competition going to see who could make the crudest, lewdest, and most disgusting remarks. We had listened to them trade insults all night, but when they saw us, they went wild. They made kissing noises and wagged their tongues at us, grabbed their crotches and unzipped their pants. From both sides they stretched their hands through the bars to try to reach us, to grab us, screaming filth at us.

I froze! It was like I was back in that playground, surrounded by Slayers, their voices taunting me, their hands grabbing at me, tearing my clothes. I felt as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room, I couldn't breath. Little black dots danced across my field of vision and there was a roaring noise in my head. My knees turned to rubber and the room started to tilt crazily. Christie caught me as I sank to the floor, falling into the black hole that had opened up in front of me.

The next thing I knew, Eddie was waving an ammonia capsule under my nose and Christie was patting my cheek. "What happened?" My voice sounded very far away. Christie and Eddie helped me sit up and I looked around me. We were back in the Booking area and I had been laid over the seats of four straight-backed chairs that had been lined up. Over in the far corner of the room I could see Tank talking on his cell phone. I'd never seen Tank angry before, but he sure was now. He was a lot like Ranger, always cool and calm. Whoever he was talking to was catching hell. As soon as he saw me sit up he snapped the phone shut and came right over.

"Bombshell?" He squatted down in front of me, studying my face.

I had no idea what had happened to me. All I knew was that I was shaking uncontrollably and that scared me out of my wits. Robin came in with a can of Pepsi, thinking that a sugar boost might be what I needed. Christie popped it open and helped me take a drink without baptizing myself with it.

"I don't know what happened, Tank. I was walking between the cells full of the gang members and all of a sudden I felt like I was back in that playground. The Slayers were screaming at me and tearing at my clothes. Tank? I'm scared." I grasped at his hands, terrified that I was going crazy.

"Steph, look at me, honey. Has this ever happened before?"

I just shook my head 'no'. "Nightmares right after it happened, but that was forever ago."

"I think you might have had a flashback. It's like a little peek at what happened back then. All those gang members, the yelling, and the things they were saying ... it's like deja vu. Look at everything that's happened to you in the last 24 hours. The argument with Ranger, Tony, Karvic, Terri, a night in jail, the gang, add no sleep and no food. You're on overload, sweetie."

Tank was saying everything I wanted and needed to hear. So how come I wasn't feeling any better about this? He handed me the can of Pepsi but my hands were still shaking so hard that I sloshed it all over myself. He took the can and held it for me so I could drink.

"It'll be okay, Steph. I promise. Once you get outta here and get some sleep, it'll all be okay." He sat next to me, holding my hand, while I calmed down.

By the time I had composed myself enough to be cuffed and shackled again, word came that all charges had been dropped against both Christie and me. RangeMan's lawyer, Haver Williamson, had presented all the necessary paperwork to the Courts to prove that I was indeed an employee of RangeMan and a legally authorized apprehension agent working a distraction job. In addition, he had included copies of the security tapes from The Wharf and the Police Station parking lots, a transcript of the recording from the mic I had worn, as well as a set of pictures that Robin had taken of my injuries. "Just in case," she had said. Apparently the judge was none too happy that so much time and money had been wasted on a bogus arrest, and he was going to initiate an investigation into the whole incident. Surprisingly for Christie, she found out that she was a RangeMan employee, too. Hallelujah! We were free to go!

Thankfully, since Robin Russell had been the booking officer last night and the charges had been dismissed this morning, there would be no record of our arrest. All of my paperwork, prints, and mug shots had mysteriously disappeared from the system, and I knew whom to thank for that. If any other cop had been on duty though, my mug shot would have been wallpaper on every computer in Trenton, right after it appeared on the front page of The Trenton Times. I didn't even want to think about my mother's reaction to how I was dressed. I could hear it now, "Mrs. Martucci's daughter doesn't have to dress like a hooker to work at the personal products factory. Why can't you get a job there?" Somehow I didn't see a job working with sanitary napkins and tampons as being in my future. Sorry, Mom!

Christie and I shuffled out the back door of the jail into the secured police parking lot. We weren't exactly inconspicuous in our lovely high fashion, prison issued, men's sized, day-glo orange jump suits, with PRISONER stenciled across the back and our much too large flip-flops. We carried last night's clothing in prison luggage, as the garbage bags are affectionately named. Thank God, there was nobody out there who could report back to my mom. All the ladies from last night had sworn an oath of loyalty to the Sisterhood, and promised that what happened in jail, stayed in jail. Even Vivi had promised not to tell Grandma that she had seen me here, thrilled that she had insider information, even if she couldn't share it with anybody, yet. I had assured her that, someday, I'd give her the okay to spill the beans. I hope she doesn't hold her breath. That's not really healthy for somebody her age.

Eddie and Robin had arranged that back door escape to help us to avoid the pack of vultures ... uh, photographers who were camped out at the front door. They had 'accidentally' leaked the news to the press, who were waiting for me, that there had been a delay in the paperwork and that I would be released in about two hours. They had also said that I was willing to make a statement and to give them a photo op. Jeez, these people were stupid! They actually bought it! The reporters and photographers had gone into a feeding frenzy, jockeying for the most favorable positions to catch me leaving the front door of the station. RangeMan had even sent an SUV to park outside, looking like they were waiting for my release. I had no problem at all with those little white lies. I just wondered how long the Press would stand there before they realized they'd been had. Trenton would just have to live without another embarrassing front page picture of the Bombshell Bounty Hunter.

I especially wanted to avoid my self appointed tormentor, that slug slime on feet, the reporter who had first dubbed me 'The Bombshell Bounty Hunter'. He was on a mission to make a quick buck off me and had been stalking me for months. Now that I worked for RangeMan, my life had really calmed down. Very few of my vehicles were carted off to the Stephanie Plum Memorial Auto Graveyard anymore, and my arrest was the biggest thing to happen to me in quite awhile. The little ferret had snuck into the station last night and had almost made it to the holding cells, camera in hand, when Eddie caught him. Eddie gave him a personal escort back out to the curb, by the back of his neck and the seat of his pants, with a threat to charge him with trespassing. I understand that something terrible might have happened to his camera. I love Eddie!

I blinked at the sunlight, trying to focus my gritty eyes. By now it was almost noon. I had been awake for more than 30 hours and I was more tired than I had ever been in my life. I'm not a girl who functions well when sleep deprived. I remember reading that sleep deprivation was a torture used to make soldiers reveal secret information. Let me tell you, if I knew any military secrets, I'd be spilling my guts all over the parking lot in exchange for a couple hours sleep. At this point I was just having trouble putting one foot in front of the other. My face hurt, the back of my head was sore, my shoulders and legs ached, and my feet throbbed. I was bumped, bruised, scraped, tired, hungry, and way passed pissed off. I felt like I was hanging on to the end of my rope by my fingernails and all I wanted was my shower and my bed.

Tank and Ranger, in officially sanctioned RangeMan pose of arms and ankles crossed, leaning against their vehicles, were in the lot. I knew my friends inside had arranged that, too, calling and letting them know exactly when we could be picked up. Tank immediately came over to us. Ranger didn't move, just stood there in those damned mirrored sunglasses. I want to drag them off his smug face and stomp them into the parking lot. Okay, so maybe it was his face I wanted to stomp. This was the first I had seen of Ranger since the whole fiasco had started last night. I wondered where he had been and what made Mr. Wonderful decide to show up now.

"How ya doin' Bombshell? Feeling better?" Tank reached out his hand to touch my cheek and I flinched back from him. I gave him an apologetic look and he put a finger on my chin and looked into my eyes. He turned my head to examine the bruising on my face. My left eye was still swollen and the bruise around my eye and cheek was a lovely shade of purple. Personally, I prefer the yellow-green stage of a bruise. It goes so much better with my skin tone.

I mustered up a weak smile. "I guess I'll live." Christie kept a close watch on me, knowing that I was just about tapped out. She had acted as my self-appointed bodyguard, nurse, and friend and had literally hovered over me since I fainted.

Tank's expression was dark and his lips were pressed into a grim line as he studied my face and my still bandaged wrists. I guess I looked worse out in the daylight then I did under the fluorescent lighting inside, if that was at all possible. I had caught a glimpse of my mug shot ... scary. Bruised face, Bride of Frankenstein hair, an all American beauty if there ever was one, and that was twelve hours ago!

"I think maybe I need to have a one on one conversation with Detective Karvic. I'd like to run into him in an alley some dark night, maybe that could be arranged. Maybe he needs a refresher course in basic police procedure and good manners."

"And you're just the guy to do it, right?" Christie gave Tank a small smile. With all the makeup washed off and her hair down, she was beautiful. How she could look so good after a night in jail was beyond me. Life just wasn't fair. Tank gave Christie a big grin and a nod. "Yes ma'am. That would be me."

"Are you our taxi service, Tank? Please tell me you are." I was practically begging. I really didn't want to have to deal with Ranger and his attitude right now.

"I'm just gonna take Christie home and make sure she's okay." He looked at Christie and smiled. "You and Ranger need to talk things out, Bombshell. You two have a lot to say to each other."

"Tank, please. I can't do this _now_." I choked the words out.

"I'm sorry, Bombshell. I'm in a tough position here. I love you, but Ranger is ... "

I held up my hand in the classic stop signal. "Sure. Got it, Tank." He may be concerned about me, but I knew where his loyalty lay.

I wrapped my arms around myself and hung my head. I was barely holding myself together as it was, and the thought of having another fight with Ranger right now, was more then I could take. I wouldn't let them see me cry, but I was damned close to losing it right there. I just bit my bottom lip hard and looked down at my aching feet.

Tank turned to Christie. "Are you ready to go? Could I interest you in some lunch, lovely lady?"

She smiled and nodded at him and she turned to me, putting her hands on my shoulders.

"You did good, Steph. You handled yourself like a pro and you made me proud." She sounded like my lifestyle coach. God love her, Christie had refused to be bailed out last night. She could have walked away since she had only signed on for the ride to the station. She could have gone to Night Court and been home in bed before I was even booked. When she realized that I'd never spent the night in Trenton's very own version of Motel Hell, she stuck to me like my Siamese twin. I have to admit that I was grateful she did. It had been a wild night, and I owed Christie.

"You gonna come back and try to get that scuzzball Tony?"

I couldn't even think that far ahead. I couldn't get passed a boiling hot shower with lye soap and a scrub brush to wash Karvic's fingerprints off me.

"Oh, I don't know, Christie. It's not my call. I work for Rangeman," I motioned toward Ranger, "and it'll be up to him."

"Well," she looked thoughtful, "I hope somebody gets that pervert. He needs to be off the streets. Any three time looser who preys on women and kids deserves to be locked up for life. I'm glad I met you, Stephanie. I hope we can be friends."

I took her hands in mine. "We are friends. Whether I come back to The Wharf or not, we're gonna stay in touch. I promise. Give me your cell phone number."

Tank handed her a pen and she wrote her number on the back of my hand.

"I'll call you tomorrow. Are you gonna be okay?" Although Karvic hadn't manhandled her, she had spent the night in the holding cell with me. I knew she had to have been tired and hungry, too.

"Me? Oh Steph, sure. And look who volunteered to take care of me. How lucky can a girl get?" She smiled up at Tank, who smiled right back. "How about you? You're not the kind of girl that gets groped like that." She has no idea, I thought. She hasn't seen Ranger in action! "That cop worked you over pretty good."

Now, I'm not a huggy person, but I couldn't help myself. I threw my arms around her and held on for dear life. She hugged me right back. Christie had stood up for me and with me. We had shared a long, crappy night together andout of it had come a real friendship.

"Steph, maybe somebody like you should do something about Karvic. I mean, people will listen to you. You're famous and all. Or infamous. Nobody pays any attention to working girls. They think they're trash, so why should they bother? Who would they complain to anyway? Other cops? " She snorted in disgust.

I could feel the tears pooling in my eyes. I knew that if I tried to say anything, I'd start bawling. I just nodded and squeezed her hand. I had some serious thinking to do about how to handle this situation. But later, when my head was clear and I could plan retaliation. I would think later.

Even to my fuzzy brain I realized that Karvic preyed on women who couldn't retaliate. Oh, he didn't go after middle class soccer moms or society grande dames. He didn't go after the women who would scream their heads off and file complaints and splash the news all over the papers and TV. The bastard preyed on the women who lived in the underbelly of society. His victims were those who would never report his abuse for fear of reprisals.

The son of a bitch acted under the cover of his badge and he gave all of his fellow cops a bad name. Christie was right; I had to do something. I had no choice. This time he had picked on the wrong woman! I had just put Karvic in the number 2 spot on my shit list, right after Ranger!

Tank leaned over to kiss my unbruised cheek but I took a step back from him. I didn't mean to, it was instinctive. He gave me a sad look, turned and offered Christie his arm. He walked or should I say he escorted her over to his H2. She looked up at him and smiled. Smiling back at her and chatting, he opened her door and helped her in, buckling her seatbelt for her. They seemed so comfortable together, like they knew each other. Christie gave me a huge smile and a little wave. I raised my hand and watched as they pulled out of the lot. At least this experience was ending on a high note for her. I, on the other hand, ... well, just don't go there.

Something that Christie had said niggled at the back of my brain, but I couldn't grab it. I just couldn't put my finger in what it was, or why it bothered me. One more thing to think about later, I guess.

Ranger had not moved this entire time except to talk on his phone. By the time Tank and Christie left, he was back to his Rangeman pose. I wondered if he was waiting for me to come over to him. Yeah, when pigs fly! The mirrored sunglasses he wore shielded his eyes and made it impossible to read his mood, but at this point, I was too tired to care what he thought.

Eddie came out the back door of the station and came right over to me. He stood next to me and put an arm around my shoulders. I jumped away from the contact.

"Oh God, I'm sorry Eddie. I'm just a little ... I don't know what I am," I finished lamely as I ran my hand over my face.

"Yeah, well, Karvic can do that to ya. He's only been here a couple of months and he's already got quite a rep. Not a good one either. Better be careful, Steph. Even though he did it to himself, you made an enemy today. He acts like a jerk, but I really think he's dangerous. He made a fool of himself with your arrest and all, but I got a real bad feeling. There's something off about this whole thing. Just watch your back, okay?"

0h Great! Just what I needed, another fan! And this one was carrying a badge. "Can I ask a favor?"

"Sure, Steph. What can I do for my cousin-in-law that she's gonna pay back with babysitting?" He said with a smile.

Unfortunately his humor was lost on me. "I need a ride home. Do you have time to take me?" I'm sure my desperation was evident.

He looked over at Ranger and back at me with a question in his eyes. "Not an option." I just shook my head.

Eddie looked at me for a few seconds and just nodded and held out his hand. I hesitated a second, then took it and we started to walk over to his car. Almost immediately Ranger was standing in front of me.

"Thanks Eddie, I'll take her from here."

Eddie turned and looked at me.

I shook my head. "Go away Ranger. I'm too tired to play your games right now."

Ranger didn't respond. He just raised an eyebrow. Damn him anyway.

Just then Robin stuck her head out the door and called Eddie to come back inside to help with a problem. She smiled when she saw Ranger and he nodded back at her.

"I'm sorry Steph, duty calls. I'm sure you'll be in good hands. I'm right, aren't I?" Eddie looked Ranger square in the eye as he spoke. Ranger gave him an almost imperceptible nod. Eddie squeezed my hand and went back into the building. I was left alone with Ranger.

I sighed and just looked at the ground. I didn't want to look at Ranger and see myself reflected in those damned sunglasses. I had a pretty good idea what I looked like. I rubbed my forehead. All I wanted was a shower and sleep. I was so tired I wasn't even hungry anymore. How badwas that?

"Ranger, just go away and leave me alone. I'm tapped out. I'm don't have the energy to deal with you or your bullshit. I'm officially removing myself as an entertainment line item on your expense report. You're gonna have to go find other amusement." I turned to walk back into the building.

"Babe." I kept walking. I could call my dad and he'd come get me.

"Babe. Please."

I stopped. Shit! He had pulled out the big guns. The one thing, the one word that could make me change my mind. I wanted to bang my head against the side of the building, but I was too exhausted to do even that. I just sagged against the bricks in defeat.

Ranger came up behind me and took the plastic bag that held my clothes from my hand. Ever so lightly he touched my elbow with just his fingertips. He'd obviously seen my reaction to Tank and Eddie. He knew I was hypersensitive right now. He guided me slowly over to the Porsche without moving his hand away and helped me into the car the same way, just with his fingertips. By the time he had walked around the car and gotten into his seat, I was battling the seat belt. I was too uncoordinated to make it work and the frustration was bringing tears to my eyes. He reached over and gently removed it from my hands and buckled me in.

I still hadn't looked at him. I wrapped my arms around myself and leaned back into the plush leather. I turned my head to the door and closed my eyes. At least I knew that he wouldn't attempt conversation while he was driving. Of course Ranger doesn't EVER indulge in small talk or chitchat. If he doesn't talk to you, he can't divulge any of his deep, dark secrets. The Man of Mystery keeps his own counsel. Damn good thing, too. There wasn't anything he could say that I wanted to hear!

TBC ...

So, wadda ya think? Personally, I can't wait to hear what Ranger's excuse is. Where was he? Stay tuned because in Chapte 9 he ...


	9. Fish Or Cut Bait!

As The Worm Turns!

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Disclaimer: Please see previous chapters.

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Warnings: These characters are adults. They think, speak, and act like adults. If you are easily offended or are underage, please read no further.

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A/N: Thanks to all of you who have read and reviewed. Please keep it up. Ranger wants to hear from you! And of course, thanks MagS!All Spanish phrases are translated at the bottom of the chapter.

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As The Worm Turns!

Chapter 9: Fish Or Cut Bait!

I must have fallen asleep before the Porsche even got out of the parking lot. The next thing I knew, Ranger was saying my name softly and gently stroking my cheek. I dragged my eyes open and it took me a minute to realize that we were in the parking garage of the building on Haywood.

"What are we doing here? I just want to go home. Ranger, take me home, NOW! I don't want to be here." I practically sobbed out the last part.

"Come on, Babe." His voice was almost a whisper.

"No! No Ranger! I need to go home! I ... I need to sleep in my own bed. I need to feel safe. Don't you get it? I can't deal with your crap right now!" I was in tears now and I just couldn't stop myself. I was really losing it fast. I didn't move to get out of the car; I just put a hand over my eyes and sobbed.

Ranger got out of the Porsche and quickly came around to my side of the car. He opened the door and squatted down so we were on the same eye level.

"Babe ... Babe, listen to me." Again his voice was soft and cajoling. "I brought you here so Ella could take care of you. I don't want you to be alone, so I'm taking you to Ella. She's waiting for you upstairs."

I was crying so hard that I was having a hard time processing what he was telling me. I turned to look at him finally. He had pushed the sunglasses up on his head and I could see that his eyes were filled with concern. Concern for me. It made me cry harder. I wanted to kill the man with my bare hands, and now, he was being kind and considerate. That was so not fair!

"Babe, listen, I'm going to pick you up and carry you upstairs. Okay? I know you don't want to be touched, but it's easier than walking when you're this tired."

He kept talking softly as he leaned over me to unbuckle the seat belt, telling me that everything would be alright once I had some sleep, that tomorrow it would all be better. He lifted me in his arms and placed his lips on my forehead. He carried me to the elevator and held me while we waited for it to come down to the garage. He rocked me gently, back and forth, soothing me, like he would a baby. Once inside, he leaned against the back wall and cradled me against his chest, my aching head on his shoulder. He talked all the while, in Spanish I think. I was still crying softly, but I was even running out of energy for that.

The elevator doors opened on seven to a waiting Ella. Ranger carried me into his apartment with Ella issuing orders like a general. By the time he deposited me on the edge of his bed, my sobs had dwindled to hiccups.

Ranger squatted down in front of me, touching my hands with just his fingertips. He raised his hand to brush a wayward curl out of my face and I flinched away from him like he was going to hit me. A look of something I couldn't identify flashed across his face. He spoke to me like he was dealing with a very small child, his voice very soft, almost a whisper.

"Babe, Ella is going to help you get cleaned up. She's going to doctor your cuts and bruises, and then she's going to feed you and tuck you into bed. She's going to stay with you so you won't be alone. If you need me for anything, anything at all, she'll call me and I'll be right here." I could only nod. He stood, kissed the top of my head and exchanging a knowing glance with Ella, quietly left.

I vaguely remember Ella helping me to undress and climb into the tub. I sank into the hot soapy water in the spa tub, lightly scented with vanilla and jasmine. When she turned on the water jets, I could feel the tension start to ebb from my body. I ached both from the bruises and the exhaustion. I just laid back and let the jets do their job.

Ella sat on the side of the tub and carried on a mostly one-sided conversation. I guess she was afraid to leave me alone for fear I'd fall asleep and drown. After I had soaked for a while, Ella wet down my hair and shampooed it. I hissed in pain when she touched the back of my head, and she made sympathetic noises when I told her what had happened.

Ella poured bath gel onto a sea sponge and started to wash me. She asked me to tell her about what had happened last night, so I did. I told her what had happened at the bar, even about Tank and me in the parking lot. I was surprised when she laughed. I told her all about Karvic, all the gory details. She had a lot to say about that, too, except it was in Spanish. I couldn't understand the words, but from her tone, I wouldn't want to be Karvic if he ever ran into Ella. I told her about spending the night in the holding cell, and about the flashback this morning. The only thing I left out was the part about Ranger and me in my apartment. For some reason I was ashamed of that incident. Ashamed of how stupid I had been to let him play with me like that.

Between the spa tub and Ella's gentle ministrations, I felt a lot more human than I thought possible. When I was ready, she helped me out of the tub and into the shower to rinse off. I was bundled into Ranger's big robe and then Ella dried my hair, loosely French braiding it and tying it off with one of Ranger's leather ties.

I padded after Ella into the kitchen. She sat me on one of the stools at the bar and pulled out a first aid kit. Very carefully she treated my knees and elbow, then my sore wrists, carefully putting antibiotic ointment on the open wounds and wrapping my wrists with gauze. She gently applied Arnica gel to my bruises, asking how I got each one. When she came to the bite marks and bruises on my neck and breast she asked if the cop had made them. I found that I couldn't meet her gaze and I blushed furiously. I shook my head no and told her that I had made a mistake letting it happen. I couldn't look her in the eye, but I swear she knew. I don't know how, but she knew what had happened. She just patted my shoulder.

She sent me in to sit at the dining room table while she made me something to eat. I think I fell asleep because it seemed like only a minute before she brought me a plate with a cheese omelet, hash browns and bacon. A buttery croissant and a glass of orange juice rounded out the meal. I savored every delicious bite. I wondered what Ranger would say if he knew that Ella was serving up such fat and carbohydrate laden treats from his kitchen. Like I cared at this point! My dessert was two Advil.

While I ate, Ella sat next to me with a cup of tea. She studied my face carefully before she spoke.

"He cares for you very deeply, you know. I have never seen him in love before."

My hazy brain function must have shown on my face.

"He who? Who are you talking about?" I said around a mouthful of croissant.

"Well Ricardo, of course." She smiled into her teacup. "Who else would we be speaking of?"

"Oh Ella, you're mistaken. If he cares about me at all, it's as an employee. He's probably worried that I'll sue him over all this."

Ella snorted in derision. "Stephanie, Ram told me that when Ricardo found out that Karvic had put his hands on you, Tank and Ram had to physically restrain him from going after the man. They thought he would have killed the cop with his bare hands." She shook her head. "They have never seen him so angry. He was out of control, and Ricardo never loses control. They had to lock him into one of the RangeMan vehicles with Woody and they had to stun him when he did not calm down. Once everyone got to the police station and he saw Karvic push you down in the parking lot, Woody had to stun him ... again."

Well, at least now I knew where the ass was last night. Of course, he still had plenty of time to recover and get me out of jail. Like all night! And we all know he didn't do that. Damnit, I wanted to know why! As angry as I was about spending the night in jail, the thought of a stunned Ranger tickled me. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy! But poor Woody. He's probably in fear of his life and went into hiding. Probably took himself off to one of those third world nations to save Ranger the trouble! But where the hell do ya hide from Batman?

"Ella, I'm a Rangeman employee. You know how he acts when something happens to one of the guys. Well, I'm one of the guys. Of course he was angry. This happened on his watch. It's nothing more than that."

"Has he not told you that he loves you?" She looked at me with raised eyebrows.

I put down my fork and leaned my elbows on the table. "As a matter of fact, he has. He told me that he loves me, but qualified it by saying it's not the kind of love that comes with a ring, only a condom. He's made it perfectly clear that his life doesn't lend itself to relationships and he doesn't want one with me. That he's not going to do anything stupid like marriage or children. So what does that leave for somebody like me?" I couldn't keep the sadness out of my voice.

It was Ella's turn to be surprised.

She mumbled under her breath. "Ay, Madre de Dios! Ricardo es un hombre muy estupido!" I got the stupid part, I could guess at the rest. I have to say I agreed with her.

"Well, this must be fixed. You cannot go on like this, either one of you. You love him and he loves you. You belong together. You are wasting time being stubborn."

Yeah, we were both stubborn, all right. "Ella, it took me a long time to admit to myself that I was in love with a man who wasn't in love with me. Oh sure, he wants me physically, and maybe that would be enough for him. But I can't do the casual sex thing; I'm already in love with him. There wouldn't be anything casual about it and I don't think I could survive that. So, that leaves us where we are right now. Nowhere."

I was too tired to continue this argument. I knew that there would never be anything between us. Ella was just an incurable romantic. I couldn't let her hopes become my dreams. It would hurt too much. The tears welled up in my eyes and spilled down my cheeks. Ella came around the table and put her arms around me, rubbing my back slowly while I sobbed.

"Listen to me, hija, just for a minute." Ella took my face in her hands and looked into my teary eyes. "Dry your tears and listen. I think I have a little plan that will help the both of you get what you want."

I listened as well as I could. I could feel my eyes closing when Ella took my hand and led me into the bedroom. Laid out on the bed were panties and one of Ranger's T-shirts. I slipped out of the robe and into clothes. I think I thanked Ella for all her care, I hope so. I barely remember crawling into Ranger's fabulous bed or Ella pulling the covers up over me.

_Ella's POV:_

Oh, this is too sad. That poor girl is just miserable. Ricardo makes all of these excuses why he must not have Stephanie in his life. He makes conditions that he knows she cannot accept. As if her crazy life is any safer than his. When there is trouble, they do not run FROM each other, they run TO each other. If that is not love, what is? This is a man who goes to any hell hole his government chooses. He has thrown himself into the line of fire over and over again. He has no fear for his life, but his heart? Any woman can tell you that love is a leap of faith. Why will he not take that chance?

Dios Mio! These two have danced around each other long enough. Perhaps a little pressure from those closest will convince Ricardo that he will lose Stephanie if he does not act now. If Stephanie will play her part, this will be easy. I will call Tank and the boys to enlist their aid. Ricardo will never know what hit him, neither will Stephanie, and after all, it is for their own good. Someday they will thank us.

"Tank ... Ella. I need a favor from you and the boys. Is Ricardo with you? Good. This is what I need you to do... "

_Ranger's POV : _

Thank God Ella called me when she did. I had to get out of there. My guys just chewed me out! They were pissed that I let Steph stay in jail overnight. I told them I knew that Eddie and Robin were on duty. I knew that they wouldn't let anything happen to her. We still have to go back to the Wharf to pick up Tony. It adds to her credibility as one of the 'girls' at the Wharf that she was arrested for prostitution and spent the night in the lockup. I suppose I could have told her that. Okay, so I should have gotten her out. I didn't think it would affect her like it did. But I guess with everything else that happened, I should have known ... shit!

Usually my men speak to me with respect, but this morning, it was a free for all. Tank, Cal, and Hector actually called me out on the mat. RangeMan always works out differences like that. We meet in the gym, on the mat, one on one. A face to face, no holds barred confrontation until one or both drop and can't get up again, or until a third party throws in the towel. This isn't gonna be fun. Tank and Cal can both put a real hurt on me, and Hector? Hector fights dirty. I am NOT looking forward to tomorrow morning. I guess I should be pleased that they all see Steph as part of the team and want to protect her like they do each other. But God Almighty, they wanted to crucify me!

Tank took me aside and pointed out that I wasn't treating Steph like an equal member of the team, but more like a personal possession. He said that the 'attention' I paid her before a distraction job was unwanted. But God help me, when I see her dressed like that, I can't keep my hands off her! He warned me that if it had been any woman other than Steph, I could have been charged with sexual harassment. He even suggested that Stephanie tolerated it because she was afraid she would lose her job if she refused me. Or, worse yet, because of her feelings for me, she couldn't refuse. I always thought she enjoyed it as much as I did. I know they talk, but what the hell did she tell him? Holy shit, does he think I force her into bed?

The thing that really got to me though, was Cal informed me that it was obvious to everybody that I had no intention of pursuing a personal relationship of any kind with Steph. Ram said I was playing games with her and now, they're all going to actively pursue her themselves. All of them! As if Steph would seriously consider any of them romantically. I mean I know she likes them all well enough, but please! Who do they think they're kidding? She wouldn't really consider any of them ... would she?

I was glad when Ella called and I could escape.

Unfortunately, I relaxed too soon. I came back upstairs to find a furious woman waiting for me. Sweet, even-tempered Ella was vibrating with anger. She stood toe to toe with me, shaking a finger in my face.

"Ricardo, how could you let this happen to that girl? You dangle her out there like bait on a hook, but you do nothing to protect her? If it were Tank or Bobby, you would have snipers with high-powered rifles on the rooftops and a SWAT team in the parking lot. How could this happen in front of so many people and you do nothing to stop it? Explain this to me!"

"Tia Ella, I would never..." I tried to take her hands in mine but she swatted me away. She was on a roll and wasn't giving up until she had her say.

"You would never, what?" The woman snarled at me! "Put her in harm's way? But you do. Mistreat her? You do that too! Allow her to be sexually assaulted? Yes! Tell her you love her? No! Ay, Madre de Dios!"

She walked slowly around the counter and bent to pick up something from the floor. When she straightened, I saw that she was holding the plastic garbage bag that contained the clothes Stephanie had worn last night. Oh Shit! I'm in big trouble here.

She opened the bag and dumped the clothes on the counter, looking me straight in the eye the whole time.

"Would you care to explain these?" She picked up the tiny shorts and microscopic top. "Would you explain to me why you would dress the woman you love, your woman, like a ... a puta and send her out in public? I have seen the marks on her neck and breast. You would not happen to know anything about those, would you? Ricardo, honestly, how could you disrespect her like that?"

"Ella, It's her job. And Stephanie isn't my woman." She threw the clothes at my head. Good thing it wasn't the boots!

She stood with her hands on her hips, tapping her toe, staring me down. I felt like a 12 year old who had been caught with a dirty magazine. Tia Ella had always been my number one supporter, but right now she was one pissed off lady.

I cleared my throat. "What did Stephanie say?" Apparently Stephanie and Ella had a talk and Ella knew a lot more than she was letting on.

Ella was working on a good mad. She was pacing back and forth through the kitchen, snorting and humpfing, and I was getting dizzy watching her. I finally just sat down on one of the bar stools and rubbed my hands over my face.

"She said it was something that she should not have let happen. She blames herself for something I think that YOU controlled! She was ashamed, Ricardo. Ashamed!" Ella spat the words at me. "How could you treat her in this way? How could you make her cry? It is no wonder that she thinks that you have no regard for her."

I was surprised that Stephanie would let Ella think I hadn't made my feelings for her clear. "What do you mean, Ella? Stephanie knows exactly how I feel about her."

"Argh! Idiota!" With that, Ella smacked me in the back of the head with everything she had. She hit me so hard that my head snapped forward.

"Ella! What the hel ..." I reached for my head, which felt like it was somewhere across the room.

"Oh yes, she knows exactly how you feel about her! She knows exactly what you have told her! She knows that you love her 'in your own way'. And apparently 'your own way' means love with a condom not a ring. No marriage, no children, no love, no commitment. That you will let her in your bed, but not in your heart!" The words dripped with sarcasm. "Ay, como pueda a hombre tan inteligente es tan estupido? You are no fool, Ricardo. I will not allow you to act like one."

"Tell me, because you pay her, do you think you can treat her like a whore?"

"What? No ... Ella ... How can you think ... "

"You want her in your bed, but you offer her nothing in return! Men! You should learn to think with ONLY the head on your shoulders!"

I just sat there rubbing my aching head, stunned by both the smack and by what she said.

"Ella, you know what my life is like. You know that I can't ... "

"Fine, Ricardo, fine. Play the fool. You keep telling yourself these things and you will watch as she walks away with another man. Not because she does not love YOU, but because she needs someone to love HER."

"Ricardo, la mujer perfecta para usted esta durmiendo en su cama y usted esta estando parado aqui como un tanto. Vaya a ella! If you cannot love her, at least make things right. You have treated her so badly and she deserves better. You have acted the ass long enough. I know that you can be charming and even sweet if you choose. Choose to be so! I am warning you, Ricardo, I will put saturated fats and sugar in all of your meals if you do not fix this now!"

"Si, Tia Ella." What could I say? The woman was right. I did have to fix this now and I knew that an apology would be required. God, I hate apologies; they're an admission of guilt. I'd have to word this very, very carefully.

I walked into the darkened bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed, just watching Stephanie sleep. Even in the dark I could see the circles under her eyes, the bruising on her beautiful face. I could drown in those crystal clear aquamarine eyes. There are times when she looks at me, when I see myself reflected in her eyes, that I really do feel like a super hero. She makes me feel like I could do anything.

When Tank called to tell me that she fainted and about the flashback, I couldn't get to the jail fast enough. She was so pale this morning, had looked so small and fragile in that huge prison jumpsuit with the sleeves and the legs rolled up and those ridiculous, oversized flip flops. The sight of her made me feel like somebody had kicked me in the gut. It made me want to take care of her, protect her, do what I should have been doing all along. That's when I called Ella. When Steph flinched away from me before ... I can't even put that pain into words.

When I think of how angry I was with her, all because she wounded my pride. I was furious because she stood up to me, this little slip of a girl from the 'Burg, put down the Mighty Manoso. I should have been proud of her. Instead I let her face Karvic alone. I don't think I ever lost control like that. God, I wanted to hurt that son of a bitch. I wanted to humiliate him just like he humiliated Steph, in front of everybody. It was a good thing that Tank and Ram got me out the back door of that bar. I don't want to think what would have happened if I had made it out to the parking lot. I would have killed that MF. And Woody, the bastard stunned me, twice. He's got balls; I'll give him that!

Ella and the guys were right, I have to figure out how to fix this. Even if I can't have her myself, I have to let her know how much she means to me. I wonder if she ever thinks about our night together? When I remember how she moved under me, how she looked at me, how she made me feel. It was the best night of my life, and walking out of her apartment was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I guess I thought if I could make her mad enough at me, if I could just make her walk away from me, maybe it wouldn't hurt so bad.

I wonder where we'd be now if I hadn't tried sending her back to that asshole, Morelli. Where the hell was my brain on that one? Who was I trying to protect, her or me? Well, I can't let her be in harm's way. I can't have her, but I can't give her up. I love her, and I can't let her know. What the hell am I supposed to do now?

I need to hold her. I may never have another chance. I stood and went into the bathroom. I took a quick shower and put on the sleep pants that Ella had pointedly left out on the counter. She knows I usually sleep in the nude. I lifted the covers and slipped into the bed, getting as close to Stephanie as I dared. She turned over and with a contented sigh, snuggled into my arms, wrapping one arm around my waist. I gathered her as close to me as I could get her. I could feel her breath on my skin, her heartbeat under my hand. This felt so right. She smelled like flowers and vanilla and woman. I breathed in her scent deeply, and let myself drift to sleep.

TBC ...

Ay! Madre de Dios. Ricardo es un hombre muy estupido! Oh! Mother of God. Ricardo is a very stupid man.

Hija - Daughter

Dios Mio - My God!

Tia Ella - Aunt Ella

Puta - Whore

Ay, como pudea a hombre tan inteligente ea tan estupido.- Oh, how can such a smart man be so stupid.

Idiota - Idiot

Ricardo, la mujer perfecta para usted esta durmiendo en su cama y usted esta estando parado aqui como un tanto. Vaya a ella!

Ricardo, the perfect woman for you is sleeping in your bed and you're standing here like a fool. Go to her!

Okay, readers, let me know what you think. Tell me what should happen to Karvic? Tony? Ranger? Good, bad, or ugly, let me know. I'm a review slut ... I love 'em all!


	10. The One That Got Away!

As The Worm Turns!

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Disclaimers: See previous chapters

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Warnings: These characters are adults. They think, act, and speak like adults. If you are easily offended or are underage, please read no further.

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A/N: Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed. Please keep it up. Thanks to Christie and Lisa for editing, what would I do without you gals?

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As The Worm Turns!

Chapter 10:

Steph:

I woke slowly. Dragging myself up through layers of sleep, I tried unsuccessfully to open my eyes; but they just wouldn't cooperate. I snuggled deeper into Ranger's warm, cozy bed and let myself drift back to sleep. When I awoke again later, I realized that I hadn't snuggled down into Ranger's warm, cozy bed, I had snuggled down into warm, cozy Ranger. My back was to his front and my pillow was his bicep. He had his elbow bent, his hand resting lightly on my shoulder, his fingers drifting up and down my arm. His other arm was tight around my waist and he had one leg thrown over mine. I was wrapped in Ranger.

I suppose he felt me tense up because he gently tightened his hold on me.

"Welcome back to consciousness, Sleeping Beauty." He murmured softly against my hair.

'Um, I could have sworn when I got into this bed I was by myself. Why did you, ah, you know, um ... join me?"

"Well, it IS my bed you know. I was up all night too; and I needed a nap."

"Oh. So how did you sleep?" I mean I was sleeping in the man's bed! What was I supposed to say?

I felt him take the tie from my hair and toss it on the floor. Gently, he unbraided my hair and fluffed it out, running his fingers through my curls. He put his arm back around my waist and pulled me tighter, burying his face in my hair.

"Better than I have in a long time, Babe. You cuddle in your sleep and you make these little noises. It made me just want to wrap myself around you."

"I'd say you did a pretty good job of that. You have me trapped."

He inhaled deeply. "I didn't want you to have a chance to run off before we could talk."

Oh God! This was another one of those 'we have to talk' things. Nothing good ever came out of one of those. I needed to get the hell out of there, now!

"I can't imagine what you think we have to talk about. You pretty much said it all last night." I didn't mean it to sound as snippy as it came out. Well, yeah, I guess I did.

He turned me onto my back and he leaned up on his elbow, looking down into my eyes, studying me. "How do you feel? You had us all pretty worried before. You aren't a fainter, that's a sign of physical and emotional distress. You scared us ... me." His fingers played with my curls, brushing them off my face.

"I scared me, too. It was like I was sucked back in time, into that playground. Going through that once was enough for me; I didn't need the replay." He was running his fingertips over my forehead, from my hairline to the bridge of my nose and back again. It was hypnotic. I had to fight to remember that I wasangry with this man.

"And now?" His expression was neutral, but his eyes gave away his concern.

I thought about it for a minute and wiggled my body the best I could considering I was still straight-jacketed by Ranger. "I seem to be fine. No more shakes, no headache, just a little achy from the bumps and bruises."

"Good," he whispered.

He wrapped his arm around me again and drew me closer to him. His leg was still draped over mine, so we were almost groin to groin and as he moved over me, now we were chest to chest as well. I watched as his mouth slowly lowered to touch mine, and I know I sighed as our lips met. The kiss was so tender, so gentle that it shook me. I could feel the heat curl low in my belly and my nipples contract. I wanted this man ...badly. I knew if I looked into his eyes, I'd be lost.

I could feel the evidence of his desire for me pressed into my hip. I had to get out of this bed before I did something really stupid. I squirmed against him, trying to get loose. I felt his body react to my movements and I heard him groan. I froze.

"You better stop moving like that or I won't be held responsible for my actions." He nuzzled my neck and sent a delicious shiver through me. I could hear the smile in his voice. When his mouth started to work on that sweet spot just below my ear, I knew that escape was essential!

"Yeah well you better let me up or I won't be held responsible for my bladder."

He instantly released me and I jumped up and flew into the bathroom. I heaved a sigh of relief and leaned back against the closed door and waited to catch my breath. There was no back door out of here and jumping out a 7th floor window was really not an option. I was stuck!

I took care of the necessities and noticed that Ella had laid out a new toothbrush and toothpaste for me. I slowly washed my face and tried to tame my scary hair, killing time before I had to go beard the lion. I wrapped myself up in his robe and triple knotted the belt in self defense. I walked to the door and put my hand on the knob but just couldn't bring myself to turn it. God, I was such a coward. What was I afraid of? He was totally different from last night. He was being charming and funny, and sexy. Okay, so that's what I was afraid of. I'm supposed to be furious with the man and he's giving me hot flashes. Damn him anyway!

After taking a couple of deep breaths, I went back into the bedroom. I walked around the bed and sat in one of the leather chairs on the other side of the room. I curled my feet up under me and covered my legs with the robe. Ranger was still on his side in bed. He had to roll over so he could watch me walk across the room.

"I take it you're not coming back to bed." It was a statement, not a question. I just shook my head.

He pushed himself up into a sitting position and leaned back against the headboard. He was naked to the waist and he raised his arms over his head and stretched, then ran his hands through his hair. Oh God, that hair! It was longer than I had ever seen it, past his shoulders. Whenever it was loose, all I could think of was the feel of it sweeping over my skin like a whisper that one night we shared together. And that mouth! His mouth should be registered as a lethal weapon! The things that he cou...

Ummm… What? Oh, sorry. Got lost there for a minute.

He bent one leg at the knee, and rested his arm on top. I automatically checked my chin for drool. The man was absolutely edible. We sat there staring at each other. Finally he gave me a slow, lazy, wolf grin and patted the bed next to him. I returned the same smile and slowly shook my head 'no'. He was playing with me again, Manipulation 101, but this time I was gonna pass the test.

Ranger heaved a deep sigh, flipped back the covers and got out of the bed. He walked over to the other leather chair and hauled it over to face the one I was sitting in. He sat down and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, folding his hands loosely.

"You're not gonna make this easy on me, are you?"

"Didn't know that was my job."

"Babe. I realize that I owe you an apology for the way I treated you the other night. I don't have a lot of experience with apologies, so you're gonna have to cut me some slack here."

I raised my eyebrows at him. Just because he hasn't had a lot of experience apologizing, doesn't mean he hasn't had a lot of experience being wrong, just not a lot admitting it. Nope, sorry Buddy, groveling will be involved. I looked at him and made a 'get on with it' sign with my hand.

He hesitated before he spoke, like he was choosing his words very carefully. "Babe, in the last 24 hours, two out of the three most important women in my life have clobbered me. I think I got the message. I have a whole litany of sins that I'm guilty of. I'm asking you to give me a chance to prove to you that I'm really not the ass that I've been acting like."

He looked at me expectantly. I waited. When he didn't say anything else, I asked. "You finished?" I didn't want to interrupt him if he was on a roll. He just nodded. I sat for a few seconds, processing what he had said. I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

I looked deeply into his 'oh so serious' eyes. "Not good enough, Ranger." And I hopped up and walked out the bedroom door, down the hall and into the kitchen. Halfway there I heard, "What? What do you mean not good enough? I'm apologizing here!"

By the time he caught up with me, I had my head in the refrigerator. It served the dual purpose of looking for something fit for human consumption and hiding the smile on my face. Ahah! Ella had left several plastic containers with my name on them. I popped the top on one to discover Fettuccini Alfredo with chicken and grilled vegetables. In the other was a huge chunk of chocolate cake. I love Ella! I put the fettuccini container in the microwave while I hunted down silverware and a plate. When I turned around, I was faced with a rather perplexed Ranger.

"Would you care to explain that last remark?" He was standing with his hands on his hips, a cross between confused and pissed.

"Sure. Whichpart requires explanation?" Keeping a straight face was gonna be harder than I thought.

He looked at me and narrowed his eyes. "I'm apologizing to you, and you're GRADING me on it?" Poor baby really was confused. I attribute that to the lack of first hand experience in making an apology.

"Well Ranger, apologies have to meet minimum standard requirements. You thought that I would be distracted by the '2 out of 3 women' line and not realize that your so called apology fell seriously short of the mark. Plus, while all of what you said is very true, it was just an explanation. I heard no apology in there. An apology generally requires an expression of regret and an admission of fault, neither of which did you voice. Words like 'I'm sorry' or 'I was wrong' or 'forgive me' are essential to an apology. For instance, you might have said, 'I'm sorry that I treated you like a two bit, street corner whore.' or 'I was wrong to let you sit in jail overnight because I was in a pissy mood.' or 'Will you forgive me for being such a arrogant, hard headed, disrespectful shithead who had no right to treat my employee and friend so badly that she felt it necessary to resort to violence?" I spat the words at him. Then I smiled sweetly, "See, it's really quite simple. You just need some practice."

I turned back to the microwave and retrieved the fettuccini. "Want some? There plenty for the both of us?"

When I turned around he was gone. I stuck my head out of the kitchen to look for him. He had gone into the living room and was standing in front of the windows. His wasn't facing me, but I could see how rigid his posture was. Ranger was ready to pounce. He was not a happy camper. Well good, he shouldn't be! He owed me an apology and dammit, I was gonna get it! So things didn't go the way he wanted. Tough! Ranger isn't used to being disappointed; Ranger is used to being in control. I wondered how it felt, getting a taste of his own medicine? I hoped he choked on it!

I turned and scooted back into the kitchen and ate my delicious dinner, right down to the cake and a glass of milk. And I thoroughly enjoyed every . single . bite!

After I finished stuffing my face, I cleaned up the kitchen, even wiping down the counters and the inside of the microwave. Let's face it, I was killing time. I really didn't want Ranger to be angry, but I did want him to realize that I wasn't gonna take anymore of his shit! He told me once that I should get my balls back from Morelli. Guess what? Morelli didn't have them. Ranger did! And now they were back home where they belonged!

When I left the kitchen, he was on the couch. He had stretched his long legs out in front of him and had propped his bare feet up on the coffee table. His fingers were locked together behind his head. He looked relaxed, but I could feel the tension radiating off him. He was playing the game, and I could play too!

I walked slowly into the room and sat in one of the armchairs across from the couch. I sat looking at him, looking at the ceiling. I couldn't stand the silence any longer. I blew out the breath I had been holding and decided to take the bull by the horns. "Ranger." Excuse me? He didn't even look at me! "Ranger?" There was still no response. Okay! He wants to act like an ass, I'll be happy to treat him like one! I shrugged, got up and sauntered back into the bedroom. Take that, you ... male!

I went to Ranger's huge walk-in closet and found one of the uniforms that Ella kept there for me. I quickly dressed and walked back into the living room, and started to the front door. The ass still hadn't looked at me, or even moved for that matter. I stopped in the living room doorway and turned to face him. "Thank you for Ella. That was kind of you." Damn those 'Burg manners! "Oh, and as far as the apology is concerned, Ranger, you can kiss my ass!" I turned and went to the door, unlocked it and sailed out. Ella was right. This was gonna be fun!

As I waited for the elevator to come up to the 7th floor, I almost expected him to come after me. Let's face it, you can only pull the tiger's tail so many times before you get to be his lunch. I had to admit that it gave me a rush to be able to make Mr. Cool, Calm, and Collected show some emotion. Okay, so the only emotion he was showing would probably get me shipped off to that famous third world country, but still...

I had to give some thought to how I was gonna get home. It was after 11 o'clock at night and I was exhausted. I just wanted sleep. My purse was still at the Wharf, in the locker with my jacket, so I had no door key. My car was in my parking lot since Tank had driven me to the bar. Considering that I'm the only one in tri-state area who can't break into my apartment, I needed to catch a ride with someone who had B&E skills. I took the elevator to 5 and went into the Comm Room. Tank, Lester and Bobby were there and shifts would be changing soon.

"Hi guys," I gave them a small smile. "I need a favor."

"Hey Girl. How do you feel?"

"Bombshell. You all recovered?"

"Steph, what can we do for you?"

"I need a ride home. And I need somebody to break into my apartment for me. My bag is still back at the bar so I don't have any keys, gun, phone, nothing." And at this point, I might not even have a job!

The guys all exchanged glances. Lester cleared his throat and asked the question that they all wanted the answer to. "Where's Ranger?"

"Upstairs."

"Um, Bombshell, how come he isn't taking you home?"

"Oh, Ranger isn't talking to me right now. I think he's a little ... upset with me."

Another exchange of eyebrow raised looks went around the room. "Can we ask what happened or should we just mind our own business?" Bobby can be so polite sometimes.

I sat on the edge of the desk and folded my arms, looking at them. "Well," I sighed, "Ranger made an apology of sorts, for the way he treated me. I told him that it was a piss poor attempt, annnnd, I guess I hurt his wittle feewings."

Snorts of laughter filled the room but died as Woody, Ram and Hal came in to take over Comm Room duties and gathered around me. I told Woody that I was surprised to see him, thinking that he had gone into some sort of Ranger induced version of a witness protection program. I had envisioned him being hidden out somewhere above the Arctic Circle. Woody said that he wasn't so sure he wouldn't have to resort to that type of lifesaving measure. I'm not sure he's joking.

Lester went to the gun locker and came back with a replacement Sig, ammo, and clip on holster. Bobby ran me off a new company ID and provided a new cell phone. I was good to go.

One of the phones by the monitors rang and Hal answered it. He looked at Tank and mouthed 'Ranger.'

"Stephanie? Um, let me look." Lester and Bobby quickly stepped in front of me. "No Ranger, I can't see her. Okay." The guys stepped aside and Hal smiled at me. "He said if I see you, I'm supposed to keep you here, even if I have to stun you." I just rolled my eyes.

Lester was watching the internal monitors. "Okay boys and girl," he winked at me. "Here comes the Boss. Oh shit, he's muttering in Spanish." Everybody hustled to get into their positions before Ranger came on deck.

Tank grabbed me by the arm and dragged me into the stairwell. He shoved me into a corner and covered me with his body. Putting his finger to his lips in the universal 'hush' sign, he peeked through the small window in the door. I snuck a peek, too. We watched as the elevator pinged open and Ranger stepped out. He didn't look left or right, ignored all the guys, and just stalked down the hall to his office. The sound of his office door slamming resonated through the whole building. He seemed to be doing a lot of door slamming these days.

Tank looked down at me and shook his head. "Come on Bombshell, let's get you the hell outta Dodge." We took the stairs to the 4th floor and then, because my knees were still so sore, took the elevator to the garage. We practically ran to his H2 and Tank lifted me up and tossed me into the passenger seat. I had barely gotten my seatbelt on, when Tank had us screeching up the ramp and into the street.

"Jeez, Tank. This feels like a getaway! Or a prison break. Do you really think he'd hurt me?"

"Hurt you, Bombshell? No, not in the conventional sense. But I do think there's a good chance he'd throw you down on his desk and have his wicked way with you." Tank waggled his eyebrows at me and gave me a shit eating grin.

I don't think my face turned red from embarrassment, I'm pretty sure it was from the hot flash that raced through my body, straight to my doodah. "Whaaa ...?"

"Oh, don't give me that innocent look. You know exactly what I'm talking about. You got that man pussy whipped! He's so filled with pent up sexual tension that one of these days he's gonna blow. It's gonna be like Krakatoa or Mt. Saint Helens. And when he does, I hope we get some warning so that we can duck and cover. Remember, Carlos is used to getting what he wants, when he wants it. And, girl, he wants you."

I sat, staring at Tank with my mouth hanging open. He reached over, and using his fingertips, closed it. I suppose that the shock was plain on my face.

"Everybody at RangeMan knows not to walk between the two of you when you're doing one of your eye sex staring things. It's like watching you two have sex by osmosis. His eyes turn black, you lick your lips, and you both breathe erratically. We keep waiting for the orgasms, for you to scream each other's names. You put on quite a show. We still talk about the day Ram accidentally walked between you two and broke 'The Beam.' It was like 'sexus interrtuptus'. You both looked ... oh, how shall I say this ... unfulfilled. You guys are legend."

"Oh my God, Tank! I had no idea." My head was reeling and I was wracked with humiliation.

"Don't tell me you didn't know? How could you NOT know? I didn't think there was anybody as stupid as Carlos, but you two are a matched pair. God Almighty, you really ARE made for each other." Tank just shook his head in disbelief.

"Well there's always been this attraction, Tank, but I had no idea that it was so obvious."

Tank barked a laugh. "Obvious? You two produce so much heat; it's like a nuclear meltdown. You're the reason all the computers are on surge protectors now, for crying out loud. We're waiting for you guys to spontaneously combust and set off the sprinkler system!"

Tank pulled into the lot at Shorty's and parked. He came around and helped me out of the truck. I had been so flabbergasted by his revelations; I never noticed where we were going. I was passed stunned and was still trying to process everything he had told me. He slung his arm around my neck and kissed me on the top of my head. "Come on, Bombshell. Massive amounts of beer and pizza will help."

We walked inside and sat at the usual table in the back. Tank sat with his back to the wall, of course. I'm beginning to think that somebody calls ahead to these places so that whenever a RangeMan comes in, the back table is always available. Either that or every back table in Trenton is reserved exclusively for RangeMan.

I sat at the table with my chin resting in my hands, looking I'm sure, as miserable as I felt. When our waitress came over, Tank ordered a pitcher of beer and an extra large, supreme pizza.

"What am I gonna do Tank. I can't show my face back at RangeMan ever again."

Tank laughed, reached across the table and took my hands in his. "Too late to be embarrassed. It's been going on for years. Even Connie and Lula know not to look directly at you two for fear of being blinded when you're doing your thing. It's kinda like looking into the sun! We figure that Morelli never saw it because he and Carlos are both still alive." By now I was so humiliated I had sunk down in my seat and had hidden my face in my hands.

The waitress brought our pitcher of beer and the glasses. Tank poured, and I pretty much chugged that first glass. I slid it back to him for a refill. He just smiled and shook his head at me.

"Look Bombshell, can you tell me what you want to happen. In a perfect world, what would happen between you and Carlos?"

"You mean, what would I ask my fairy godmother for?" He nodded. "I guess I'd ask for Prince Charming to fall in love with me, carry me off on his white charger and we'd live happily every after." Tank rolled his eyes like a 'Burg girl. "Well, you asked!" I whined. Tank sat, a small smile playing across his face.

"I also know that's not gonna happen, Tank." I told him sadly.

"Just how can you be so sure that you won't get your fairy tale ending?"

I sat, carefully shredding my napkin into a neat little pile of confetti. I cleared my throat. "Tank, do you know about 'The Deal'?"

He nodded his head slowly. "His side."

"Oh jeez Tank, I was so stupid. He got up out of my bed, pulled on his clothes, and left without so much as a backward glance. He wanted me, he had me, and he sent me back to Morelli. I don't know what I thought was gonna happen, but it sure as hell wasn't that!"

"Yeah, but you went back to the cop pretty damn quick, Bomber."

"Damn straight I did! I didn't just go back to Morelli. I RAN back to him." Tank raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Well what was I supposed to do? I was hurt and SO humiliated! Joe was a safe place to hide; and at least he wanted me." I finished lamely.

I finished my beer and pushed the glass back over to Tank to refill ... again. "You know that I love Lula, right? I'm so proud of her; how she decided she wanted a better life and made it for herself. I never looked down on her because she was a 'ho. But somewhere, deep down, I guess I always felt a little bit ... superior because I would NEVER do anything like that. Well guess what, that's exactly what I did. I sold my body. The only thing missing was the money on the dresser when he left. Or a receipt marked paid in full."

I sighed deeply and gave him a rueful smile. "Wanna hear something funny? You'll get a laugh out of this. I slept on the couch for almost a month after that. I couldn't sleep in my bed."

Tank looked at me over the rim of his beer mug. "So doesCarlos know that's how you feel?"

I snorted. "Oh hell no! There's an unspoken rule. Neither one of us has ever mentioned that night or 'The Deal'. He acts like it never happened. I guess I was just an itch that he needed to scratch."

"Steph, you know that's not true. You know that he has deep feelings for you. He's just ..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, Tank. If he cared so much about me, how come it was so easy to just walk away from me? How come he's got all these rules: no commitment, no kids, no marriage, no relationship? He just wants a 'friends with benefits program' when he knows that's something I can't do?"

Tank snorted. "He's full of shit. He wouldn't know a relationship if it fell out of the sky and bit him on the ass. He hasn't had a lot of experience with real relationships, sweetie. He doesn't realize he already has one with you."

"Jeez, Tank. Between you and Ella, you two are gonna drive me nuts. Ranger and I . do . not . have . a . realtionship! Ask him! He'll tell ya! Unfullfilled sexual attraction. And that's all there'll ever be."

"Bombshell, the man got a girl pregnant and did the right thing and married her. He gave his child a name, and then he allowed another man to adopt her, so he gave his child a family. He sees this as having failed at those relationships. He's as involved in his daughter's life as her mother and father allow him to be. Notice I said father, not step father or adopted father. He lives on the fringes of other people's lives, and you live on the fringes of his."

I guess I was more upset over this whole situation than I realized. When the waitress brought our pizza, my idea of ambrosia, I was only able to eat 3 pieces.

Tank sighed and looked at me. "Bombshell, that man is my best friend, my brother. He's the only family I have. You are the best thing that ever happened to him. I'm not gonna let either one of you fuck it up."

By the time we finished the third pitcher of beer, I was feeling noooo pain. As a matter of fact, I was feeling so good that I actually was beginning to think that the eye sex thing was pretty funny. When I told Tank that I was sexually frustrated from having all this sex but no orgasms, he decided it was time for me to go home and sleep it off.

Tank poured me into his H2 and I vaguely remember something about 99 bottles of beer being on a wall, somewhere. Next thing I knew, we were in my apartment and Tank was depositing me on my bed. He took my gun off my hip and put it in the nightstand, pulled off my boots and went in search of the aspirin that he thought I was gonna need.

"You gonna tuck me in, Tanky?" For some reason I thought that this was hysterically funny. I rolled over and felt something digging into my butt. I felt around and found my cell phone. Ohhh, I had a billiant, billint, a great idea. I flipped open the phone but couldn't see the numbers so I reached over to turn on the lamp and fell off the bed onto my face. Fuckin' lamp moved!

"Whatcha doin' Bombshell?" I love Tank, but he's nosy. He did turn on the lamp though. He picked me up and put me back on the bed. I rolled over onto my stomach with my head and arms hanging off.

I tapped my index finger against the side of my head, I think. "Idea Tanky, I gotta idee. S'all his fault, Tanky. He'ss gotta fis it. Aaaahhmm gonna call 'im an tell 'im I'm sexily fusated and he has ta fits it."

"Good idea, Bomber. But why don't you put on your jammies and get all ready first and then call him?"

"You are soooo smmmart, Tanky. You are sooosmart ... s-m-r-t. I'm gonna close meyes, jus fer a minu..."

TBC ...

A/N: Should Steph forgive him? What does Ranger need to do to win her back? Please R&R. Ranger is waiting to hear from you!


	11. Hooked!

Disclaimer: See previous chapters, please.

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Warnings: These characters are adults. They think, act, and speak like adults. If you are easily offended or are under age, please read no further.

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A/N: Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed. Please keep it up, I'm a review slut! Thanks for all the ideas and encouragement, keep that up,too. I really listen. Thank you, Christie, for everything!

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As The Worm Turns!

Chapter 11: Hooked!

Steph's POV:

Ow, ow, ow ow! Oh my God. There are little men with jackhammers behind my eyeballs trying to dig their way out of my skull. I can't even pry my eyes open. They seem to be nailed shut, probably by the same little fuckers that have the jackhammers. This is all Tank's fault and I'm gonna kick his ass the next time I see him. At least I would if I could kick that high. Bleck! It feels like a garbage truck drove through my mouth.

I've heard the term 'hungover' all my life. It finally dawned on me last night, in a rare moment of clarity, it's because you spend the next twelve hours hung over the toilet bowl, losing everything you ate in the past year! All I have to show for last night is a headache, a sore throat, and a queasy stomach. God! What I wouldn't give for the 'The Cure'!

Coffee, I need coffee! I slid out of bed onto the floor and crawled to the kitchen on my hands and knees to make some. I was pretty sure I could do that with both eyes shut. Halfway there I swear I could smell MacDonald's French fries. Wishful thinking, I guess. I crawled around the corner and rammed my head into the kitchen table hard enough that something fell off and landed onme. I cracked an eye open. It was a beautiful MacDonald's bag. The most beautiful MacDonald's bag in the whole, wide world. I laid on the floor and stuffed fries in my mouth. I couldn't even chew; I just sucked the salt off them. When I was finally able to sit up, I reached up and felt around for the Coke that I knew would be there. Aaaahhhhh! The straw was even unwrapped and poked through the little hole in the top of the cup.

I decided that I just might live. I sat, leaning against the fridge, and I swear I could feel the salt, fat, and caffeine course through my veins. I finally pried my eyes open and was able to focus long enough to spot the pot of coffee that was just finishing brewing. Then it hit me. I had found The Cure on my kitchen table and it was still hot. There was fresh coffee! I didn't make it. Hangover fairies? Didn't think so!

I dragged myself up off the floor, no easy feat considering my condition, and headed for the coffee. Arranged neatly alongside the pot were a mug, a spoon, sugar, and milk. Next to that were 3 aspirin and a bottle of water with the cap loosened. Somebody knows that hungover Stephanie is uncoordinated.

Three cups of coffee and The Cure later, I realized that I was wearing my pink Snoopy T-shirt and panties that I didn't remember putting on. I staggered back into the bedroom and there was my Rangeman uniform, neatly folded on the chair next to the bed. Who folds dirty clothes? Sure as hell not me! Unless I have turned into a drunken sleepwalking Donna Reed clone, I didn't undress myself! I didn't think that Tank would undress me like that and the only other possibility was ... oh dear God! ... Ranger!

It had to be Ranger! It all added up. Very few people knew about The Cure, and only one of them could have known that Tank had gotten me tanked. That was number one. Number two was this shirt. For some strange reason, Ranger just loves this shirt. Every time we go running, he wants me to wear it. It's faded, shrunk to at least two sizes too small, and it's a little ragged around the edges. At first, I thought it was because he really liked Snoopy, but when I bought a different Snoopy shirt, Ranger never even noticed. Men! Number three, is the ... oh hell, forget about it, I'm going back to bed!

I fell, face first, onto my bed and passed out, yet again. When I finally woke up, hours later, I didn't feel all that bad. Queen of denial that I am, I still didn't want to think about last night's possibilities, so I spent most of Sunday afternoon giving real thought to how to handle the Karvic situation. I even went to my parents' for dinner and afterwards, my Dad and I went for a drive. Of course we couldn't let my Mom know what was going on; she'd take the Four Roses bottle into the pantry and never come out again.

Dad drove us to the City Park in the taxi. We walked around the small lake and we talked a lot about the difference between doing what was easy, and doing what was right. He told me that he knew I'd never taken the easy road, and knew that I probably wouldn't start now. Dad told me to do whatever it was that I needed to do and that he'd back me in whatever my choice was. That's my Dad for ya, he doesn't say a lot, but when he does, it speaks volumes.

Escaping from my parent's house had been a blessed relief. The Kloughn Circus was in full swing, and Grandma Mazur had invited her latest studmuffin. The funny thing is that people tell me I have a crazed life. I've come to the conclusion that I come by it naturally. It's a genetic predisposition. And it's not my fault!

I was back home by 8pm and I gave Christie a call. We talked about Karvic and our night in jail, about what eye candy the Merry Men were, about how great Tank was; you know just regular girlie stuff. She said that Tony had been back at The Wharf every night, asking about me and when I'd be there. Christie had let him think that I hadn't been able to make bail and was still in jail. The fact that he was so interested in me really gave me the creeps and my spidey sense was jangling off the hook. Christie and I made plans to meet for lunch later in the week, and I headed off for bed.

Monday morning dawned bright and clear. Ranger didn't show up to drag me out of bed to go running, so I went by myself. It gave me a chance to clear my head and do some thinking. Oh my God! Did those words just come out of MY mouth? It must be all that subtle brainwashing that Ranger's been doing. You know, all that stuff about eating healthy, exercising, gun practice and stuff.

I supposed he was still angry with me. Even if he did bring me The Cure, I hadn't really seen or heard from him since I left his apartment the night before last. I figured he was still pissed because I wouldn't accept his pitiful excuse of an apology. Tough! Let him stew! I was sick and tired of playing by his rules all the time. Surprise, surprise! We're getting a new set of rules. Mine!

I was concerned that I hadn't heard anything one way or another about a second try at grabbing Tony Panzarelli, either. I knew that RangeMan held the paper on that apprehension for another week and that meant that time was running out. Not that I was looking forward to that mind you, but it would be a nice chunk of change. And remember, I had never said no to a distraction job. Since I had committed to this one, I'd see it through to the end.

I was giving myself a headache from all the thinking I was doing so I fed Rex, took my coffee into the bathroom and got ready for work. When I got finished with the hair and makeup thing, I decided that I looked pretty damned good. My eyes were sparkling and my skin was glowing. Hell, there's no man in my life so it couldn't be afterglow, and my shower massager doesn't produce these kinds of results. Holy shit, the exercise? Nah! Yeah? I always thought I looked like this because I was with Ranger. Ugh! Why does everything always come back to him?

The thought of having to deal with a sulky Ranger just irritated the hell outta me. I figured if he was gonna be pissy, I'd really give him something to be pissy about. I stopped at Tasty Pastry and bought 3 dozen assorted donuts to put in the breakroom. He'd probably have the place exorcised to remove the fat, sugar, and carbohydrate ghosts that would haunt it. Marring the temple, my ass! It'd serve him right if he gained weight just from the smell of the grease. Hmmm, I wonder if I could have that pumped through the air ducts into his office.

When I stepped out of the elevator and onto the 5th floor, the entire crew stood and applauded. They were giving me a standing ovation! At first, I thought it was because of the donuts. But it seems that it's a RangeMan tradition when one of their own is arrested for the first time. While on the job, of course. Tank, as my supervisor, made a silly speech and each one of the guys gave me a white rose, symbolizing my innocence. Each rose had a small card attached with a personal message from the guy who had handed it to me. The messages ran the gamut from funny to sweet and included two marriage proposals and one indecent proposal, from Lester, naturally.

I also got a kiss from each and every one of the Merry Men, symbolizing everything from support, to lust, to 'we got your back'. Lester, of course, made a big show of throwing me across a desk and trying to climb on top of me, all the while attempting to stick his tongue down my throat. By the time Tank picked him up off me, by the back of his shirt, and dropped him on the floor, I was choking with laughter. It was all in good fun and I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed the kissing part.

Lunch would be provided by RangeMan. Ella had ordered pizza and 'Stephanie Plum' sandwiches (meatball subs) from Pino's. In all the time I had worked here, this was the first time that RangeMan had ever brought in non-health food for lunch. Oh, there was always food in the breakroom, but it was stuff like turkey on whole wheat bread without mayo, which goes against God and nature, and green stuff; I think its called salad. Nothing that I considered really edible. If you wanted real food, you had to go get it yourself.

Anyhow, there I stood with this huge bouquet of flowers in my arms that I had no idea what to do with. Ella miraculously appeared and whisked the roses away. She returned with them beautifully arranged in a huge vase, with greenery and babies breath. The lovely scent of the flowers filled the whole room. She handed me the little stack of cards that had been attached to the roses.

"Ella, is this really a RangeMan tradition?"

"Oh yes, my dear. Well, the boys did make a few minor modifications to the tradition considering that the honoree is a woman. Normally, they would grab the man and strip him naked, carry him over their heads down to the garage and hose him down with cold water. Then he's locked out of the building until he can find a way in. It usually entails him running around the outside of the building in the nude."

I must have turned ten shades of purple because Ella laughed and patted my shoulder. "They only one in favor of maintaining that tradition was Lester and no one takes him seriously." Great!

"In the evening they celebrate with Cuban cigars, large quantities of alcohol, and many dirty jokes, usually at a strip club. They all get disgustingly drunk and RangeMan provides designated drivers to bring them back here, unaccompanied, of course. They all spend the night in the apartments on the 4th floor. The next day is always very quiet since most have terrible hangovers."

"Gee whiz, sounds like fun. Too bad I'm not a guy! I hate to think I'm missing out on running around the outside of the building naked!" I rolled my eyes. "Ella," I spoke softly so that no one else would hear. "Does Ranger usually participate in these ... festivities? I mean, I noticed that he wasn't here and I wondered if it was because this was for me. I didn't want to ask the guys because, well, you know."

"Oh Stephanie, do not worry. He never attends these little celebrations in the office. He just pays for the lunch. He feels that his presence would put a damper on the party atmosphere. Occasionally, he attends the evening's entertainment, but only stays briefly and then leaves. Perhaps he will go with all of you this evening."

"This evening? Where? Nobody's said anything to me about this evening. Oh God, we're not really going to a strip club, are we?"

"No, dear. Just wait. Truthfully, I do not know what their plans are. I think they might be afraid that I would tell you." She gave me a smile and a conspiratorial wink.

Things calmed down and I actually got some work done. I started searching for information on Detective Vincent Karvic. I wanted no surprises when I brought my complaint against him. RangeMan would also utilize these searches, passing them on to their lawyer. At some point during the day I'd have to arrange some personal time off to deal with the whole situation.

Tank and I finally got a chance to sit and talk about what I had planned. Apparently it was standard procedure that RangeMan would file a formal complaint against Karvic on the grounds that he had interfered with a scheduled takedown and with the RangeMan employees involved. The Trenton Police Department and RangeMan LLC had an unspoken agreement that RangeMan would do skip tracing and fugitive apprehension without TPD interference. The TPD backed off because they didn't have the manpower to do these jobs. Everybody benefited. RangeMan made money and the TPD saved money until, that is, an asshole like Karvic got involved.

Tank informed me that Haver Williamson would be handling the legal issues for RangeMan. He was the RangeMan lawyer who had arranged to have the charges dropped against Christie and me the other day. I had already contacted him. He had explained that I had the option of having my complaint included with RangeMan's since I was one of the employees with whom Karvic interfered. As my lawyer, he could handle everything and I probably wouldn't even have to show my face at the station.

Tank even suggested that I might want to take advantage of this solution. Despite the fact that I had mountains of evidence, as well as eye witnesses to support my allegations, a formal complaint against a police officer could get really ugly. The face to face confrontations, the sworn depositions, the questioning, would all be like a trial. Oh, that easy way out was just looking better and better! Too bad I couldn't go with it!

I groaned. "Tank, much as I would LOVE to avail myself of that offer, we both know that I can't. What Karvic did was personal. He didn't molest RangeMan, he molested me. You and I both know that he's done this before, and unless somebody stops him, he's gonna do it again. I don't see that I have any choice." I sighed very deeply.

"I know, Bombshell, but I had to offer. I'll tell Ranger. I don't know what his reaction will be. Since he's not real happy with Karvic himself, he may not be happy that you want to take him on personally."

"Thanks but no thanks, Tank. I haven't been afraid of Ranger for a long time now, and since this is my decision and my battle; I'll face the devil by myself. This is personal and it has nothing to do with RangeMan. Whether he likes it or not, Ranger has no say in this. And what's the worst he can do, fire me?" Tank snorted.

I rarely got a private moment at work, and thought I'd take this opportunity to ask about the other night. "Um ... Tank, about the other night… um ... did you undress me? And leave MacDonald's and a pot of coffee for me?" I already knew the answer, but I was hoping against hope.

Tank's eyebrows raised and he gave me a huge smile. "I guess you had an early morning visitor, Bomber!" I just hid my face in my hands and groaned while Tank chuckled.

I finally left Tank's office and walked down the hall to Ranger's inner sanctum. I raised my hand to knock, when an arm came around me, pounded on the door and threw it open. You wouldn't think a man the size of Tank could sneak up on anybody, but he was surprisingly light on his feet. "Company!" He sang out, gently pushing me into the room and seated me in one of the guest chairs. He threw his huge frame into another, leaning back and crossing his long legs.

Ranger looked at Tank and cocked an eyebrow. "Come in." Sarcasm dripped from his words.

"What can I do for you, Tank?" He hadn't even looked at me.

Tank looked at Ranger and pointed to me. "Steph has the floor."

I took a deep breath. Saying it outloud would make it so. "I'm going to press formal charges against Karvic. I intend to file separately from RangeMan."

Ranger sat tipped back in his chair, his fingers steepled in front of him, and his patented RangeMan blank face on.

He looked at Tank. "You haven't been able to persuade her otherwise?"

Tank just shook his head. "Nope! The lady has a mind of her own." He looked at me and smiled affectionately.

"Well, it's her funeral. Tell her she has my permission." And the son of a bitch waved his hand in dismissal. My eyeballs almost rolled right out of my head and I'm pretty sure that my head spun around like the kid in 'The Exorcist'. I could feel my face start to burn. I turned to look at Tank and I swear to God the man turned pale. I stood slowly and took the step to Ranger's desk. I placed my fingertips on the polished wood and leaned across the desk slightly.

I spoke very softly, through gritted teeth. "I believe that you have misunderstood the reason for my coming to you. I most certainly am not asking for your 'permission' to file against a man who sexually assaulted me. I was extending you the 'courtesy' of informing you of my intentions, in advance, so that you would be prepared for any backlash against you personally or RangeMan in general. Obviously, I was sadly mistaken in thinking that I owed any loyalty to my employer or to this company." I turned to leave.

"Okay children, time out." Tanks voice was very firm. "Let's play nice here. You two need to call a truce, at least on this subject. This could turn into a volatile, even dangerous situation for everybody involved. Let's put your battle on hold until this thing with Karvic is worked out."

Ranger and I eyed each other suspiciously, but we each gave Tank an imperceptible nod at the same time. I sat back down and gripped the arms of the chair so tightly my knuckles turned white.

Ranger leaned his arms on his desk. "Do you have a lawyer yet?" I just looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Please, Babe, use Haver." When I opened my mouth to speak, he held up one hand to stop me. "Let me explain. I'm ... concerned that your family will pressure you to use Kloughn. I'm not saying he doesn't know his stuff, it's just that you're gonna need a shark between you and Karvic. And Haver has very sharp teeth."

I couldn't argue with him this time. He knew my family too well. My mother and sister would be all over me to let Albert handle this. With my luck this would become a high profile situation and they would want Albert involved so he could make a name for himself. What name that would be, was questionable.

"Babe, there are other advantages to having Haver in your corner. Since he's handling RangeMan's complaint, he'll be familiar with all of the evidence and witnesses and has seen it all from every possible angle. He has a lot of experience working with these type of complaints. Not that it would make any difference to you, but I would feel a lot better about this whole mess if you would leave it in Haver's hands. I have great faith and confidence in him. He's served RangeMan, and me, long and well."

"What do we know about Karvic, anyway? Have we got any info or dirt on him yet?" Tank asked.

"I have the search engines fired up now. Everything that's available on the man should be ready after lunch. I'll go through the reports like I do any research project and let you know if I find anything interesting." I looked at Tank as I spoke. I tried to sound calm and professional and not reveal my desire to lunge across the desk and rip Ranger's beating heart out of his chest with my bare hands and serve it up for lunch!

I stood to leave and walked to the door. "Ranger, I've already contacted Haver. I know from my research on him that he's more than capable and qualified to handle my needs."

Ranger raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You researched Haver Williamson? Why?"

"Well I certainly wouldn't use a lawyer whose track record I wasn't familiar with, Ranger."

"So ... you were going to use him all along?"

"Of course. He has the experience and the expertise, plus the fact that he was a cop for 10 years and understands the inner workings of IAD and the Brotherhood in Blue. I would be foolish not to take advantage of that." Ranger and Tank exchanged looks. Ranger glared and Tank smirked. Tank looked like a proud papa. His little girl had just passed another test. Tank's phone rang and he took off to solve a problem in the Comm Rom leaving me alone with Ranger.

He stood and came around his desk to stand next to me at the door. "Babe, there's one more thing. We only have a few more days to pick up Panzarelli. Are you willing to give it another try? If not, I can always bring in someone from Boston or Miami, so I don't want you to feel that you have to do this."

"Ranger, you know I've never refused a distraction job, so of course, I'll see it through. But I have a few conditions." Ranger's blank face slammed into place. "One. I choose the clothes. Two, someone other than you takes me to The Wharf. And three, before you offer me another distraction job, you call a meeting of the entire team, that I will chair."

"That's it?" I nodded. "Done. We'll set up for tomorrow night." I turned to leave when a thought struck me.

"How do you do that?" He raised a questioning eyebrow. "The Jekyll and Hyde routine? It's like you flip a switch."

"Self defense, Babe. Conditioned reflex, learned behavior, call it whatyou like. I shouldn't have done that toyou, I shouldn't everdo that toyou."

I figured I had nothing to lose, so I forged ahead. "Ranger, do I have you to thank for The Cure?" He hesitated, and then gave me a nod.

"Then I suppose I have you to thank for undressing me, too?" This got me a slight twitch of the lips.

My curiosity finally got the best of me. "What's with the Snoopy shirt, anyhow? You want me to wear it every time we go running? Why do you like it so much?" This time I earned a full 200 watt-er. "Well?"

"Because he's doing his 'happy dance' and..." He upped the wattage. "His little outstretched paws reach your nipples."

"So it looks like Snoopy is copping a feel?" I squealed and swatted him on the arm. "Under all that Man of Mystery crap you are SUCH a guy!" I guess I sounded surprised at the revelation.

He reached out his hand to touch my hair and looked deep into my eyes, studying me. "I wondered whether you realized that," he said softly.

"Ranger, how come, when I'm passed out drunk, or a blubbering mess, or tired beyond words, you act one way. But when I'm perfectly fine, you act like a ... a ... an I don't know what?"

"An opportunist?"

"Actually I was thinking more along the lines of 'jerk'!" I left his office with a smile on my face. My new mantra was 'Don't let him have the last word.'

I went back to my cubicle to check on the Karvic searches. I immediately noticed that three gorgeous, blood red roses had been added to the middle of the bouquet of white ones. The card was still attached to them. I untied the ribbon holding the card to the stems and sat in my desk chair to read it. I smiled when I recognized the handwriting. 'Babe, you never disappoint. R'.

We all knew from the aroma that lunch had arrived. Ella had set up the break room with all the necessary items for our little party. From extra napkins, to Parmesan cheese, Ella thought of everything. Some of the guys had pushed the tables together and had put a chair for me at the head of the table. It turned into a mini-roast, with everyone telling their favorite 'Bombshell' story. If it hadn't been so good natured, I would have been embarrassed.

"Bomber, who do you want to pick you up for dinner tonight? We reserved the whole back room at Rossini's in you honor." Lester was grinning at me like a loon. I was stunned.

"I was prepared for, maybe Shorty's, but Rossini's? To what do I owe this honor?"

"Look Bomber, lunch is on RangeMan. Dinner is on us. We're trying to show you how much you being here means to all of us. Plus which, we're all trying to show up Ranger. We're going to ply you with massive doses of tiramisu in hopes that you'll fall for one of us." This statement was met with laughter and applause. I blushed furiously and hoped that they were pulling my leg.

Bobby leaned over to me. "Rossini's has added a dance combo in the bar, Bomber. I claim the first dance."

"Oh Bobby, that's great! I love to dance! And I can't even remember the last time I went dancing."

"How come we don't know this about you, Steph? What kind of dancing?"

"You name it. Salsa, ballroom, swing, everything short of square dancing." With that, Bobby pulled me out of my seat and started dancing me around the room. The guys set up a salsa beat, complete with rhythm and percussion sections. For a big man, Bobby was amazingly light on his feet and moved like a dream. He had me doing steps that I didn't know that I knew. Lester took me out of Bobby's arms and twirled me around, changing the dance into a mambo. Hal followed, who knew he could jitter-bug like that? Then Ram and Cal took turns dancing me dizzy.

Bobby reclaimed me and had just finished swirling me around and into a dip, laying me back over his arm with my arm thrown dramatically over my head, when he froze. I heard him mutter "Oh shit!" and the room became absolutely silent. I turned my head to see what he was looking at and found myself face to crotch with a pair of black pants. Oh ye gods! Let me die now!

I froze, too. I rolled my eyes up, to see with whom I was having this up close and personal moment. Ranger stood, hands on hips, looking straight down at me. "Stephanie." He had that one damned eyebrow raised.

"Ranger." I gave him a tight little smile and wrinkled my nose at him. I was going for cute here. I'm not sure I succeeded since I know that the color of my face was less than becoming. While Ranger's package is certainly impressive, (insert hot flash here), finding my face less than 3 inches away from it in a room full of onlookers is not my idea of up an intimate encounter.

The seconds seemed to drag on endlessly. Me, looking at Ranger, looking at me, looking at his crotch. My proximity was not lost on him. His eyes had turned into the obsidian pools that signaled his arousal. His crotch sent the same signal, only by a different method. Afraid to move, I cut my eyes up to Bobby who was still staring at Ranger. "Stand me up or put me down, Bobby." I said through my frozen smile. Bobby dropped me right on my ass.

My butt hitting the floor seemed to break the spell and everyone sprang into action. In seconds the room was cleaned and cleared, and Ranger and I were left alone. He reached down and took my hand, pulling me to my feet. I stood, rubbing my sore butt.

His eyes were dark as he looked at me. "I could kiss that and make it all better."

I think my eyes glazed over at the thought. "Oh, you can kiss my ass alright. But not to make it better."

Ranger stared at me for a few seconds. He took my hand off my butt and bringing it to his mouth, planted a slow, wet, hot kiss in the palm. His eyes never left mine. He took a step closer and put my palm firmly on my butt cheek. Leaning in, he whispered in my ear, "Too bad. My way would have been so much more fun. Consider your ass kissed," and he licked my neck right below my ear. I swear, if I hadn't grabbed onto the back of a chair, I would have landed on my ass again!

While he collected a salad and a bottle of water from the fridge, I managed to regain my composure. By the time he turned around, I was leaning against the doorframe with my arms folded over my chest ... his usual stance. As he walked passed me to go back to his office, wearing that damned smirk of his, I grabbed the front of his shirt with both my hands and shoved him back against the doorway. I plastered myself against him and hauled his mouth down to mine. I gave him the hottest, sexiest, deepest kiss I could muster, sucking his lower lip into my mouth and giving him a sharp nip before I let him go. I put my lips against his ear and whispered, "Your loss, not mine." I licked the shell of his ear and bit the lobe for good measure. Then I simply let him go and walked casually back to my desk. I noticed Lester and Bobby give each other a thumbs up as I strolled passed. What was that about?

As I walked into my cubicle I glanced over to find Ranger still standing in the doorway, an absolutely stunned expression on his face. I was very calm as I sat down, but inside I was doing a happy dance and jumping up and down. Gotcha, Ranger! How does it feel it be on the receiving end? A little confused are we? Good! A little off balance? Even better! After all the times you dragged me into the alley at Vinnie's, or trapped me against a wall or desk, it's my turn to play. And by the time I'm finished with you, you'll be lucky if you can walk straight! Who knew that getting even could be so much fun? Let the games begin!

TBC ...

Ranger is waiting to hear from you, so please read and review. Something tells me that the tables are turning. What do you think?


	12. Red Herrings!

Disclaimer: Everthing belongs to Janet Evanovich, the Queen of the Universe!

Warnings: For everything from language, alcohol, bad jokes, terrible writing, you name it ... consider yourself warned!

A/N: Thank you for all the words of encouragement and support. Christie (MagnificentSin), you're my Guardian Angel and partner in crime. I love ya!

Just a little Limerick to get you started-----

With RangeMen and police galore,

Who are willing to take on the chore,

These Cupids will work

To drive Ranger berserk,

Poor guy has no clue what's in store!

The girlfriends and Ella will plan

To help Stephanie get her man.

But they can't let her see

It's a conspiracy,

Cooked up with the cops and RangeMan!

More ditties on my profile.

**As The Worm Turns!**

**Red Herrings!**

**A play in one act**

Writer/ Producer: XJerseyGirl

Director/ Additional dialogue: MagnificentSin

**Cast of Characters**

RangeMen: Tank, Bobby, Lester, Hector, Hal, Cal, Ram

Police: Eddie Gazzara, Big Dog, Carl Costanza, Robin Russell

Girlfriends: Mary Lou, Connie, Lula

Special Guest: Ella Guzman

**Setting**

Saint Jude The Comforter, Catholic Church,

Chambersburg District, Trenton, New Jersey

**Scene**

Church interior. RangeMen are already seated in two pews off to the side, halfway back, trying to blend in. All RangeMen are in standard work uniforms, sans unconcealed weaponry. (Concealed armament includes, but is not limited to: 11 firearms, 9 knives, 3 saps, 2 sets brass knuckles, 5 rolls of quarters, 2 sets Chinese Throwing Stars, and 6 pairs of hands (registered as lethal weapons). Ella is sitting with the RangeMen.

Mary Lou is literally dragging her son, Michael, into the church. He obviously does not want to be here and has dug in his heels. Mary Lou is dressed like the perfect 'Burg housewife in short sleeved, long skirted dress with white socks and Keds and a little sweater over her shoulders.

Big Dog, Carl, Robin Russell and Eddie follow Mary Lou. Observing her trouble with Michael, Eddie picks him up by the waistband of his pants and carries him into the church, telling him to cut the crap. Michael sticks his tongue out, but seeing his mother's expression, calms down and is quiet. The Officers find seats near the Merry Men.

Connie and Lula enter the church together and walk toward the RangeMen. Connie is dressed for work; Lula is wearing an electric blue spandex dress with matching hat and shoes. The hat is wide brimmed and trimmed with huge feathers that flounce as she walks. Hal seems fascinated by the feathers. Lula is clearly out of her element and is nervously watching the statues in the church, running into Connie's back when she stops to enter the pew.

Lula: "Shee-it girl! What's wrong with you? Hurry up and sit down. That Priest guy in the black dress be staring a hole through me. Whoa! Outta my way!"

Lula pulls Connie back so that she can enter the pew first.

Connie: "What's wrong with YOU! We're in church for God's sake!"

Lula: "I need to sit next to that handsome hunka man, Tank, and I be just fine."

Lula climbs over Cal, Ram, Ella, and Hal to sit next to Tank.

Hal: "Who picked this place? Gives me the willies."

Cal: "Mary Lou's son has altar server practice. Plus it's a secure location. No chance of bugging or surveillance. Offers privacy and we can mingle with the crowd."

Tank and Ram exchange glances.

Ram: "Yeah. Like WE can fly under the radar!"

Robin: "You guys are sure are brave to do this."

Hector: "Si, Robin. If Ranger finds out, Dios mio, we are dead men." (My God)

Hal: "Only if we're lucky!"

Ram: "He hates it when we interfere in his personal life."

Tank: "He doesn't HAVE a personal life. That's why we're here. To try to get him one!"

Ella: "Lula? Are you all right, my dear? You look very pale. I thought you said that you were a Baptist? Why do you keep crossing yourself?"

Lula leans in to speak to Ella, squashing Hal between them.

Lula: "Hey Ella. Don't get to church much, ya know. Don't want it to cave in on me considerin' my previous profession as a 'ho. I swear I felt the whole place shake when I was walkin' up the steps."

Mary Lou approaches the pews holding the group, steering Michael by the back of his neck meeting Father Pastorelli as he comes down the aisle.

Mary Lou: "Father Pastorelli, I'd like you to meet some friends of mine. No Father, they aren't gang members, they're security specialists. No Father, there won't be any trouble. Oh no, Father. I'm sure they would NEVER bring weapons into a church. (cough) Yes, I think we could all benefit from a blessing. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Thank you Father. Michael, take the Holy Water! Go with the Father."

Most of the group blesses themselves.

Lula: "Yeah Father. We all be on the side of the angels with this one."

Mary Lou pushes Michael off. He follows the priest reluctantly, mocking him as he walks up the aisle. Catching his eye, Cal growls at Michael, who turns pale and bugs his eyes. He runs after the priest, looking back over his shoulder at Cal.

Connie: (Whispering) "Hal! Calm down! It's only holy water. He's a Catholic priest, not a VooDoo witch doctor! Just sit down."

Tank: (Stage Whisper) "Okay folks. We're here to strategize for Operation Dumbass. We have to be exceptionally cautious, as well as sneaky, since the subjects involved are suspicious by nature and are gifted with gut instincts that are legendary."

Bobby: "This has to be run like a top secret, covert op. Any slip up and we all wake up in some Third World Nation."

Cal: "So, who has an idea of how we should get this mission started?"

Lester: "I think we should just stun 'em both, strip 'em down, and chain 'em to a bed until they do the deed."

Hector gives Lester the evil eye.

Hector: "This is not about sex, tonto. It is about love. We must make them admit that they love each other." (fool)

Connie turns around in the pew.

Connie: "You know, maybe you're right, Lester. Maybe all they really need is a little taste of each other and ... well, kind of let nature take it's course. Lula, you okay? What do you keep looking over your shoulder at?"

Lula: "You hear that? Them statues be whisperin'!"

Mary Lou: (Mumbling) "Um, I'm not sure that ... um ... that's gonna work."

Eddie: "Lou, is there something you're not telling us?"

Mary Lou: "Um ..."

Lula: "White Girl, if you be knowing somethin' that'd be helpin', you best spill it."

Mary Lou: (Whining) "Ohhhhhhh! ... You all have to promise me that none of you will EVER tell Steph I told you this. She'd never forgive me for betraying a confidence, even if it is for her own good. You have to promise that you'll take this to the grave."

Connie: "Mare, if you don't hurry up and tell us, that grave you're talking about ..."

Mary Lou: "Okay, okay. Well, they ... uh ..., they, ... um ... already had that taste."

Everyone at the same time:

Carl: "What the ..."

Bobby: "When?"

Mary Lou: "Michael! Stop picking your nose!"

Ram: "Just once?"

Hal: "Oh My God! We're sitting in a church, people!"

Lula rolls her eyes at Hal.

Lula: "Hal, God knows about sex. You know, Adam and Eve, Mary Magdalene, and all that stuff."

Big Dog: "So when did this 'taste' happen?"

Mary Lou: "Almost a year ago."

Everyone at the same time, again:

Lester: "Holy shit!"

Hal: "Lester, for gosh sakes!"

Eddie: "What happened?"

Robin: "Ye gods!"

Mary Lou: (All in one breath) "Weeelll, ... Ranger made Steph a deal that he would help her with de Chooch if she would give him one night and he did and she did and she said it was the best night of her life and he was fantastic and it was magic but in the morning he sent her back to Morelli and said he didn't do relationships and that he was an opportunist and she was so hurt and humiliated because she never had a one night stand before and she felt like a whore, no offense Lula, that she did. Go back. To Morelli, that is."

Everybody at the same time:

Cal: "Jesus H. Christ Jr.! I'm gonna beat the living shit outta that man."

Hector: "Madre de Dios!" (Mother of God!)

Robin: "Oh my God, poor Steph!"

Ella: "Dios todo poderoso!" (God Almighty!)

Lula: "Sheee-it! The only thing missing was the money on the dresser. Hal, quit hittin' your head against the pew. You're gonna break it."

Once everybody has quieted down:

Carl: "So what are we gonna do, folks?"

Mary Lou: "Michael! Stop playing in the holy water!"

Bobby: "Do we know how Steph feels about Ranger?"

Robin: "Oh yeah. You ever see her look at that man?"

Ram: "Well?"

Connie: "She's in love with him, of course. Have you ever MET Steph? She's not a 'no strings' kind of girl. She wouldn't have slept with him in the first place if she wasn't in love. And you can bet your sweet ... um ... you can bet she thought it would be more than slam-bam, thank you, ma'am. You men are just SO stupid!"

Ella: "Ladies, we must work on Stephanie. He has hurt her and so we must make certain that her feelings are still strong."

Lula: "They are. She wouldn't still hurt so bad if it wasn't love."

Tank: "Yeah, she told me the other night. Both sober and drunk."

Mary Lou: "Um ... But Steph thinks that she was just an itch that he needed to scratch. She doesn't think that HE loves her because it was so easy for him to walk away."

Hector: "All you need to do is to look at him when he is watching her. He loves her."

Lester: "Yeah, but is that love or lust? Their 'sex by osmosis' thing is pretty hot."

Ram: "You're telling me! I still have singe marks from the time I walked between them and broke The Beam. We should have some kind of early warning system or something!"

Hal: "Well, watch him watch her when she's not watching. He gets all soft and dreamy like."

Robin: "Awwww! Hal! I didn't know you were such a romantic."

Ella: "Ricardo must make the first move so that Stephanie will be convinced that he really cares for her."

Eddie: "Okay, guys. So then we really only have half a battle. The ladies have the other half. All we have to do is pull Ranger's head out of his ass."

Hal: "We are in CHURCH. Watch what you say!"

Lula: "If anybody be nervous bein' in church, Boy, it'd be me. Them statues be watchin' me. I can see the eyes movin'. They be worse than that velvet Jesus picture Connie has. Give me the shivers!"

Lester: "So we only have to figure out how to handle Ranger. And we do that ... how?"

Ram: "Simple. Make him jealous."

Mary Lou: "Michael! Pay attention to Father Pastorelli."

Bobby: "How do we make him jealous without him catching on? Or Steph for that matter."

Tank: "It has to be subtle. If we go overboard he'll know it's a set up. And then there'll be hell to pay."

Big Dog: "The Policeman's Ball is coming up the end of next month. I think I need a date. Think Steph is free that night?"

Carl: "Me, too. I could use a date. Steph might prefer going with me."

Tank: "If I got Ranger to Pino's tomorrow at, say, 7pm, do you two think you could 'just so happen' to be there discussing this problem?"

Big Dog: "Oh, I think that could be arranged."

Mary Lou: "Michael! Stop making faces."

Hector: "I have tickets to a Broadway musical. I could ask Stephanie to go."

Cal: "How's that gonna make Ranger jealous? You're gay, Hector. She'd just be your Fag Hag!"

Hector: "Si. But he will be jealous if he thinks that I am bi-sexual. Ella?"

Hal: "Oh dear God! We're all going to hell!"

Ella: "Oh, si Hector. I think I can work that into a conversation with Ricardo."

Bobby: "Steph told me she loves to dance. There's a new dance club opening in Belmar. I should probably ask her to go with me."

Ram: "She said that the cop never took her out anywhere. I bet she'd like to go out to dinner sometime."

Ella: "She has told me that the roses are the only flowers that she has ever received. Is that not sad?"

Cal: "She'll find some on her desk in a couple of days."

Eddie: "This is all good, but Steph's not stupid. What's she gonna think about all this sudden attention?"

They all think for a minute, then:

Tank: "We can all just say that we feel bad about how nasty this distraction job was, all that crap with Karvic, the night in jail. When you think about it, she had a hell of a weekend, and she rose to the top just like cream. She really deserves some attention.

Lester: "Yeah, and we already told Ranger that we were all interested in Steph, so this won't come as any surprise to him."

A lightbulb goes on over Hal's head.

Hal: "Boston Creams and coffee on her desk every morning."

Lula: "See there, Hal. I knew you would get with the program. I'm proud of ya."

Big Dog: "Yeah, and there are a couple of movies out that I'd really like to see."

Carl: "Lunch someplace other than Pino's."

Bobby: "And, last but not least, our secret weapon which will be launched at Rossini's!"

Al the RangeMen break into huge smiles.

Tank: "Ladies and Gentlemen, it would appear that we have a plan. Operation Dumbass is officially initiated. Let's get to work but remember we must be sneaky, subtle, and downright underhanded, if we have to be. Are we agreed? Good! Yea Team!"

Connie: Pssst! Mary Lou. Will they be hearing confession here today?

Mary Lou: "Yeah. They should start any time now that server practice is over."

Connie: "Okay, thanks Mare. Bye!"

Ram: "Hey Connie. You staying for confession?"

Connie: "Yes. And you better stop grinning like that!"

Bobby: "Connie, Ram. You guys here for confession, too?"

Cal: "Connie, Ram, Bobby. You guys here for ...? Guess so."

Carl: "Hey guys. Helllloooo, Connie."

Connie: "Stop smiling!"

Lester: "Hail, hail, the gang's all here."

Big Dog: "Well, are we all here for conf ... oh. Hey Miss Connie, you busy tonight?"

Connie: "Okay, everybody stop smiling right now! After all, we're all here to confess the same sin!"

Lula: "Shit! You guys should get a group discount! You're all grinnin' like a bunch of Cheshire cats! Anybody look at you guys, know what all you been doin'. Sure looks like you had a gooood time."

Connie: (In the confessional) "Bless me Father, for I have sinned." And sinned, and sinned, and sinned, and 'sigh' sinned!

Meanwhile, back at the Haywood office:

Steph's POV:

If my spidey-sense had bells and whistles, they'd be going off full blast right now. I had run Karvic through four different search engines and had gotten pretty much the same information from each one. Not quite word for word, but pretty damn close. I was sure that there were big chunks of information missing. Something was seriously hokey and I had to find out what the hell it was!

I could put in a search request on myself and find out that I got a C- in Math in the 7th grade, the results of my last Pap test, and how much I paid for the speeding ticket I got the day after I got my driver's license in 1993. My life was a friggin' open book! Where the hell was this kind of information on Karvic? The searches turned up a basic credit and work history, but no records from either the Jersey City or Trenton Police Departments.

My files will tell you that I have a tiny scar on the bottom of my right butt cheek and probably how I got it. Okay, okay, Joyce Barnyard ... uh ... Barnhardt, stabbed me in the butt with a pencil when we were in 3rd grade. She was pissed that I always got picked first for dodge ball. Well, maybe it was because I had a wicked throw and was always able to nail her in the head. Joyce spent most of 3rd grade with a big, red dodge ball welt right in the middle of her forehead. Oh come on!It wasn't my fault that she couldn't dodge the dodge ball! Maybe that's why she's been trying to get even with me ever since. But anyway, Karvic had no detailed personal history, no real educational history, and nothing of any substance. This was beyond strange.

The only information of any interest was that he graduated from the Police Academy in the same class as Morelli! I guess I could always call Joe and ask him what he knew about Karvic, but considering the way we parted company, he'd probably tell me to eat shit and die! I'd have to get creative now, and do some real digging. There were so many unanswered questions, like why did he leave Jersey City, why did he come to Trenton, where was his work history, and what the hell was going on?

I had spent the entire afternoon running searches and reading about Vincent Karvic. It was so fascinating that I was almost comatose. This research wasn't just for me; I was responsible for all of the information that would be funneled to Haver Williamson for the issues that he was handling for RangeMan. After I had exhausted all legal channels to get info on this scuzzball, I was still basically empty handed. And that pissed me off. It might just be time to call in a few favors.

Nothing could convince me that Ksarvic's attitude and actions towards me was a first time thing. He had to have done this before and somebody must have known about it. Where were the records? And how come there was no record of any complaint for anything against Karvic? Even Morelli and Eddie, Big Dog and Carl, who were all good, honest and dedicated cops, had complaints against them. Big Dog had stopped an 86-year-old lady for running a red light. He gave her a ticket and as she pulled away, she ran over his foot and knocked him down. She filed a complaint against him for the language he used while he rolled around in the street holding his broken foot. So ya see, nobody's record was that clean.

I looked at the clock on my desk and almost had a stroke! I was running seriously late for my mass date. I logged off the computer and grabbed my stuff, stopping on my way to the elevator to drop off the search results to Tank. Almost every RangeMan had been out of the office for a couple of hours this afternoon. I figured that they were finalizing plans for the party tonight.

I flew into his office and found Tank and Bobby laughing like loons and slapping each other on the back. The second I came in, they became straight faced and businesslike. They probably want to keep the party plans secret, either that or one of them got laid last night! Too bad I didn't! I realized a long time ago that men are just strange. It's the testosterone that makes them weird! It eats away their brains and that's why they think with that 'other head', if you know what I mean? I shoved the paperwork at Tank and ran.

I had a lot of work to do if I was going to wow this crowd tonight. They had only dropped the news about dinner at Rossini's at lunch time. What is it with men? Don't they understand that a woman needs time to do strategic planning? Do they think that a stunning ensemble complete with hair and makeup just materializes out of thin air? All they have to do is take a shower and shave and get dressed. So okay, if it's a formal occasion, maybe they put on clean underwear, but that's about it. For a woman to get ready, it requires the precision and planning of a multi-national military coup.

Traffic was gruesome and by the time I hit my apartment door, I was already half stripped. I dove into the shower and 30 minutes later I was shaved, showered, buffed and puffed to within an inch of my life. I hauled out the electric rollers and did the makeup thing. Smokey eyes, light on everything else except the concealer for the remains of the bruises on my face and neck. I pulled out the rollers and fluffed and sprayed. For once, the hair gods took pity on me. The hair had that just fucked look, perfect. Then I hit the closet.

I eliminated anything that I'd ever worn for a distraction job along with anything that was overtly sexy, showed too much skin, or was way too short or too tight. I settled on a rather demure black silk number with a flirty overskirt that was perfect for dancing. It had a high neckline in front, but the back was cut down to my waist. It had spaghetti straps that crisscrossed over the low cut back. Most importantly, it had a bodice with a built in bra. The bra was essential unless I wanted my nipples to be the center of attention all night. After all, Lester was gonna be there.

Since I hoped to be dancing, a lot, I chose 3" heeled FMPs instead of my usual 4 inchers. The shoes were new and I had been saving them for a special occasion. They were black and had a tiny little strap over the toes and satin ribbons that tied around my ankles into a bow at the back. When I looked in the mirror, I had to admit that I cleaned up pretty damned good. Simple jewelry, a black wrap and clutch, a shot of perfume, and I was good to go.

At precisely 7:30 the doorbell rang. I almost didn't recognize the sound! I usually just find people standing in my apartment. I guess that everybody was on their best behavior tonight. I opened the door to a sight that took my breath away. A sea of Merry Men stood outside my door, each one more delectable then the last. Each and every one wore a suit and tie, and my Hungarian hormones stood up and cheered in appreciation. The hormones were reacting to their long, dry spell since Morelli left. And while they weren't going to be satisfied by anyone standing in my hall, damnit, it was good to know that they were still in working order.

The guys let me know that I had achieved 'WOW'! I had to give them a 360 degree turn and in return got wolf whistles, cat calls, and applause. Someone suggested that they start a petition to have Ranger change my uniform to a mini skirt and FMPs, but the idea was dropped when nobody would volunteer to present it to him. I was escorted to the elevator, accompanied by Hal and Hector. The rest of the guys took the stairs and they were all waiting for me when the elevator pinged open. Transportation, this evening, was in the form of a limo. Not just any limo, but a black Hummer stretch limo that was several blocks long and could seat a full Marine division. I shouldn't have been surprised. I mean, what else would they have chosen?

On the way to Rossini's champagne corks popped. It was poured into champagne flutes and endless toasts were made. The party atmosphere was in full swing. The back room at Rossini's was decked out with flowers, linens, silver and candles. I had Caesar salad and Rossini's fabulous fettuccine Alfredo, made at tableside. We drank, and ate, and laughed, and drank, and joked, and drank. By the time dinner was over, I had a happy little buzz going. It was a wonderful evening.

The combo started to play in the bar and Bobby claimed me for the first dance. I was passed to Lester, Hector, Vince, and Cal. The next set brought Tank, Hal, Ram, and Junior and on and on. They had worked out their order ahead of time. All I had to do was stand there, and one after another they swept me away across the dance floor. I was waltzed, swung, fox-trotted, mamboed, salsaed and tangoed, and nobody stepped on my toes. I can't remember the last time I had this much fun.

I decided that dancing must be a prerequisite for employment at RangeMan since every one of them was a fabulous dancer. I asked Lester about it while we danced. He said that dancing was a requirement since, every so often, RangeMan provided security at social functions. The RangeMen all owned tuxes and could dance so that they could blend in with a crowd if necessary. Merry Men in tuxedos! Now that's a sight I'd love to see!

When the combo took a break we headed back to the table. I had no sooner been seated when our waiter brought me a double serving of Tiramisu. So Lester hadn't lied. I worked very hard not to moan as I ate the heavenly treat, knowing that that's what the guys were waiting for. They were all watching my every bite. They gave me enough heat when I moaned over Boston Creams; I can't imagine what I'd have to put up with if I moaned over something as orgasmic as tiramisu. When I licked my fork, Lester and Bobby both clutched their chests and rolled their eyes back in their heads, faking heart attacks. I was surprised at how many of the guys actually ordered dessert. I guess while the cat's away, the mice will have a damned good time for themselves.

I was leaning over the table to hear the terrible joke that Ram was telling when I felt that familiar tingle down my spine. I knew he was there before I saw him, so I was prepared when Ranger put his hand lightly on my back.

He leaned down to me and asked softly, "May we join you, Babe?"

I turned and realized that Ranger wasn't alone. Standing next to him was a tall, extremely handsome man. He had dark blond hair and startlingly green eyes, wearing a suit that was clearly hellaciously expensive; he had an air of self-confidence and power about him. From the way he held himself, he reminded me of Ranger; from his looks and build, he could have been one of the Merry Men. He was almost as yummy as the tiramisu.

Ranger made the introductions. "Babe, I would like you to meet Haver Williamson. Haver, the famous and infamous, Ms. Stephanie Plum."

I held out my hand and he took it, raising it to his lips and brushing a kiss over my knuckles. He looked me straight in the eyes and gave me a smile that could melt the polar ice caps. Oh my, this man was a charmer, and I'd happily let him charm me any old time!

"Miss Plum. I don't mean to intrude on your party, but I wanted a chance to meet you in person before we started working together. I convinced Carlos to bring me with him this evening. I hope you don't mind." His voice was deep and smooth and he had THE most incredible Southern accent. We held eye contact so long that Ranger cleared his throat.

The sound snapped me out of my trance. "Oh! Call me Stephanie, please. Won't you gentlemen join us?"

Haver and Ranger pulled up extra chairs to the table, one on each side of me. Ranger signaled to the waiter who brought bottles of Crystal Champagne to the table and filled our glasses. Ranger stood and addressed the group.

"Gentlemen, we are here this evening to honor Miss Stephanie Plum, who made the ultimate sacrifice for RangeMan and was arrested and charged with resisting arrest," this generated a round of applause, "assault on a police officer," more applause and laughter, "and ... prostitution." This earned whoop-whoops, cat calls, and boistrous cheers. I'm sure I blushed ten shades of red and prayed that no one else in the restaurant heard Ranger's speech and reported it back to my mother!

"From the day that you joined RangeMan, you were one of us. You have never been an outsider. But now, we welcome you into this elite cadre, this inner circle of RangeMan. Under normal circumstances, Babe, I would welcome you into the Brotherhood of RangeMan, but since you certainly aren't our brother, I welcome you into the elite RangeMan Family. Now and forever, you are one of us. Gentlemen, I give you our own, Miss Stephanie Plum." Everyone stood and with calls of 'Here, here', they raised their glasses and toasted me.

It was my turn, and I was at a loss for words. Yeah, yeah, weird, I know. Who would have ever thought that Stephanie Plum wouldn't have a whole mouthful to say. So, I just said the first thing that came to mind, and I spoke from my heart.

"Gentlemen, we have no choice of the families that we're born into. But the families that we make for ourselves are a gift. RangeMan is my family and each and every one of you is my gift. I love you guys. Thank you for everything."

The music had started again, and Ranger asked me to dance. I could feel every eye at the table on us. He took my hand and we walked into the bar. He pulled me into his arms and I let the music take us away.

"You look beautiful tonight, Babe." He whispered into my hair.

"You mean as opposed to the rest of the time, when I look like what? A troll?" I said with a smile.

He pulled back a little so that he could look into my eyes. I saw a twinkle of mischief there.

"Are you trying to pick a fight?" He was smiling and narrowed his eyes in mock suspicion.

"I don't think that I need to pick one, I think we already have one chosen." I smiled as I put my head on his shoulder. "Someday, we're gonna have to figure out this passive-aggressive thing that we've got going."

He chuckled and held me closer. "Oh, I don't think that there's anything passive about us, Babe."

Ranger held me closely and I turned my face into his neck and inhaled his scent. I'd had a lot of champagne and I was happily relaxed. I know I shouldn't have, but I didn't want to lose this moment. I think I sighed in contentment and I felt him groan deep in his chest in return. My hand was curled into his and he held it over his heart. As I settled into him, I felt his heart rate bump up a notch, I'm sure mine did too. Our bodies fit together so perfectly, as if we had been made to dance with each other. Through one song, into the next and the next, neither of us could let go of the other. Neither wanted this moment to end. Ranger had danced us into a darkened and private corner of the room, under trees filled with thousands of tiny twinkle lights. It was like being in a fairy tale forest. I looked into his eyes again. I saw humor and affection, and desire. He looked down at me and fingered a curl that had fallen onto my forehead.

"There was a little girl, who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead." He recited the old childhood nursery rhyme. "And when she was good, she was very, very good," he leaned down and whispered in my ear, "but when she was bad, she was better." Ranger had changed the last line. He ran his lips lightly from my ear along my jawline. When the tip of his tongue touched the corner of my mouth, my breath caught in my throat. My lips parted of their own accord and his tongue danced with mine. The kiss deepened, became all consuming and went on until we were both breathless.

Hidden from the world in our secret corner our mouths met again, hungry, greedy for each other, we fed on each other. I know I moaned into his mouth, and he into mine. We couldn't get close enough. I had my arms around his neck and our bodies were molded together. We were a perfect fit for more than just dancing. When the kiss broke, I know I was trembling. He watched me with hooded eyes.

"You want me as much as I want you." There was surprise in his voice, as if he had just realized that my feelings were as deep as his. His voice was deep and his breathing was ragged. He had one hand on my neck and the other around my waist, holding me to him.

I looked into his black eyes for a moment and whispered, "No, Ranger. I want you more. That's the problem." There was a huskiness in my voice that surprised me. I extricated myself from him and returned to the table with him following me. Every RangeMan eye was on us, so I flashed them a bright smile.

Tank stood and pulled out my chair. I saw that on my plate was a small box. Oh, I recognized that color and that white satin bow. Unmistakably Tiffany's. I almost hyperventilated! I looked questioningly around at the group, but they all just grinned at me. Hal was appointed spokesman for the group.

He cleared his throat. "Well, this is a little difficult to explain. Normally, we take up a collection and the money is used to pay for ... hmmm ... the companionship of his choice, if you will, of the man of the hour, ... um ... for the rest of the evening." Embarrassed Merry Men, too cute! The guys kind of squirmed in their seats, looking very uncomfortable. Okay, got it! Well, actually THEY got it, if you know what I mean. I just nodded. Hal gave a sigh of relief and continued. "In your case, we didn't think that was appropriate, although we had many volunteers for that particular position." Lester raised his hand and pointed at himself. "So we decided that this was more suitable for a lady."

A lady, I almost snorted. Carefully, I untied the ribbon on the signature Tiffany blue box. Inside I found a blue velvet jewelry case, and inside that, a fine, intricate, gold chain. Hanging from the chain was a tiny pair of solid gold handcuffs and a tiny gold handcuff key. I knew immediately who had chosen it. I put on the necklace. The tiny handcuffs would lay just at the top of my cleavage and I had the feeling that was the whole idea.

I thanked everyone all around. I was touched not just by the gift, but also by their willingness to make this night about me and what I would enjoy. Let's face it; each and every one of them would prefer to be at a strip club right now. Well, maybe not Hector. He'd probably vote for Chippendale's!

Haver asked me to dance so we went into the bar. And yes, he was a wonderful dancer, too.

"I hope you don't mind that I crashed your party, Miss Plum?"

"Not at all. You're a member of RangeMan, so the more the merrier. And please, call me Stephanie."

"Well Stephanie, you aren't at all what I expected, you know. You're reputation precedes you."

I laughed. "I'm not sure whether that's a flattering statement or not. Just what did you expect?"

"Certainly not a beautiful woman like you! And further than that, I'd rather not say. I'll just exercise my Constitutional right against self-incrimination and plead the fifth."

He smiled and looked down into my eyes. "I don't want you to worry about dealing with the TPD or with Karvic. There will be some unpleasant aspects, Karvic's attorney's will try to muddy the waters, so to speak, but I'll try to make this as painless as possible for you."

"Thank you. I'm concerned about what will hit the newspapers. I have a mother who has an unhealthy idea of stress relief." He quirked an eyebrow at me, but I didn't tell him about Mom's tippling in the pantry or her ironing fetish. That was on a need to know basis and he didn't need to know.

Haver and I danced several dances. I could feel Ranger's eyes on me the whole time. When I would catch his eye, he didn't look particularly happy, but I couldn't figure out why. It was getting late and I knew that the MM were probably wishing that they were at that strip club. I thanked them for the dinner, the dancing, and the jewelry, three things sure to win any woman's heart. I told them to continue the party that I'd take a cab home and see them in the morning. I gave each and every one of them a big juicy smack on the lips. Except Ranger, and Haver, of course.

Both of them offered to take me home but Ranger needed to go with the MM for the rest of the evening, so I sent him off. All that male bonding crap and stuff. On his way out, Ranger stopped and came back over to me. In front of Haver, he put his arms around me and drew me gently to him. Brushing his fingers across my cheek, he leaned down and gave me a kiss, gentle but firm, on my mouth. He whispered, "Good night, Babe. I'll see you in the morning." And he kissed me again, this time just a little longer. I got the feeling that he was sending a message to somebody, and Haver was the only somebody there. Hmmmmm!

Haver had a car and driver waiting outside, so off we went. We made small talk, mostly about my reputation, and how I came to work as a bounty hunter. He walked me to my door, and again kissed my hand, saying that he would see me tomorrow.

It had been a wonderful evening and I fell into bed exhausted, for once from having a good time. I fell asleep immediately and dreamed of dancing with Ranger in an enchanted forest. Sweet dreams, indeed. Sigh...

TBC ...

Let me know what you think, please. I don't know how I'm doing if you don't tell me. Remember, Ranger is reading over my shoulder.


	13. Lures!

Disclaimer: Any character that you recognize belongs to Janet Evanovich. The rest are figments of my imagination.

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Warnings: These characters are adults and they think, talk, and act like adults. If you are easily offended or are under age, please read no further.

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A/N: Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed. Ranger just loves the reviews, so please keep 'em coming! And a special thanks to my Guardian Angel, MagnificentSin, for everything. Hope you feel better soon, Babe!

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As The Worm Turns!

Chapter 13: Lures!

Morning came way too soon. I dreamed about dancing with Ranger all night. It was still dark out when my visitor arrived. Ranger had come to drag me out of bed to run. I was wearing the Snoopy Tshirt and a tiny pair of panties. He hadn't hauled me out of bed to go running since before the fiasco at The Wharf, so I didn't think he was going to be doing that anymore. I thought I was safe! He came into the bedroom and whipped the covers off of me.

"Go away you sadist! Get out of here before I shoot you!" I hoped I sounded dangerous as I mumbled into my pillow.

He chuckled. 'You don't have your gun in here, Babe. Let's go, roll out and I'll buy you breakfast when we're through."

"Oh yum! How can I resist egg white omelets and unflavored yogurt? What a treat!"

"Come on, at least roll over and let me say hello to Snoopy!" I could hear the laughter in his voice.

I was laying on my stomach and had my arms stretched out under my pillows. Ranger came and sat on the edge of the bed and smacked me lightly on the butt. Okay, so it was more like a caress. I arched my back and raised my butt off the bed a little, knowing that this would distract him. After all, Ranger is an ass man. I knew I was successful when I heard him groan. I smiled into my pillow and wiggled my butt a little more as I stretched, then turned over quickly and pressed the muzzle of my .38 caliber Beretta Cheetah against his temple.

"You were saying, Ranger?"

He gave me his full 200 watt smile. "I have to admit, I'm impressed. How long have you had this little toy in here?"

"I've had it for awhile now. Aren't you proud of me?" I flipped the safety back on and returned the gun under the pillow. When I turned back to him, Ranger pinned me down on the bed, his eyes dark.

"Proud is only one of the things I feel about you, Babe. You make me feel things that I don't want to admit even to myself. Half the time I don't know whether I should kiss you or kill you. The kissing sounds better right now."

I raised my arms, wrapped them around his neck and drew him to me. I traced the seam of his lips with the tip of my tongue. I loved the taste of this man. He let me control the kiss, and he opened his lips to me. Our tongues tangled and fought for dominence and when I gently sucked his tongue I felt a shudder course through his body. That was just the signal I was waiting for.

I pulled back, as breathless has he was, and ran the tips of my fingers over his lips. I drew a deep breath, held it for a second, and pushed him off me as I jumped out of bed.

"Okay, I'm awake now. Let's go run," I said brightly. I pulled on a pair of the shortest knit shorts I owned, and took a Tshirt and socks from my dresser.

The expression on Ranger's face was priceless. This revenge thing was really a great idea. I'd have to get Ella a really neat 'Thank you' gift for thinking this up. For all the times he left me standing, gobsmacked, in that alley, and just sauntered away? I just wanted to jump up and down and pump my fist in the air. Got you back, suckah!

I scooted into the bathroom to change my clothes and brush my teeth. I had this goofy smile plastered on my face and I had a tough time not laughing out loud. It wouldn't do to have Ranger hear me. He'd realize what I was up to immediately. I had to play this game very carefully.

I finished up and left the bathroom in search of my sneakers and found Ranger in the kitchen making coffee. I crawled around the living room floor, occasionally leaning down, butt up, to look under the furniture. I know he watched every move I made, I could feel his eyes on my ass. When I stood up with sneakers in hand, I couldn't help but notice that his shorts were fitting much more snugly than when he arrived, if you know what I mean. He finished with the coffee pot, and while I put on my sneakers, he went into the bathroom. In my head I sang a little song ... 'I know what you're do-ing'! Ha!

He was in there for quite awhile, and naturally, I was worried about him. So, like any good friend, I walked over to the door, knocked and called to him, "Hey Ranger. Are you okay in there? Do you need any help?" I got a rather strangled "No!" in response. I scurried away from the bathroom door and into the kitchen in search of something to stuff in my mouth so that he wouldn't hear my laughter. I grabbed a kitchen towel and buried my face in it. Oh my God, I was going to hell! This was just waaay to much fun!

He finally came out of the bathroom and asked if I was ready to go. I'd been working on my version of the RangeMan blank face, and while it wasn't perfected, I was getting pretty damned good at it. I told him that I only had one quick thing to do, and grabbed the laundry basket and dumped my hamper into it. I picked up detergent and fabric softener and my keys, and I was good to go.

Ranger locked up and we took the stairs to the laundry room. I put the basket on top of a machine while I started another one and added detergent. Clumsy me turned and knocked the basket off the machine and my laundry spilled out all over the floor. Strange, every bra, thong, pair of panties, camisole, and little lacy underthing I owned seemed to be in that basket. When I bent to retrieve my clothes, I turned my back to Ranger and made sure that I didn't bend my knees. The moon was up, folks! I heard him mutter something under his breath, in Spanish, and his voice almost squeaked when he told me that he'd wait for me outside. Now, I knew that somewhere along the line, God would punish me for this. But it'd be SO worth it. I was just looking at this as Divine retribution.

Ranger was waiting for me in the parking lot. He was pacing back and forth. I started my preliminary stretching routine and threw him a look. In the most neutral voice I could muster, I asked, "Are you okay? You seem awfully up tight this morning." The man had the nerve to growl at me!

Stretching finished, Ranger was off. We both knew that he could run a lot faster than I could, and he usually set a pace that I could maintain. Not this morning, though. He was off like bat out of hell. No pun intended. We ran to the football stadium at the local high school where we usually ran laps around the field together. Well, today, I started to run laps, Ranger ran the bleachers. He ran up the stairway to the top of the stands, across the top to the next stairway, and down. He repeated this all around the stadium. The man must be crazy!

Just when I had decided that Ranger wasn't really human, that he was a machine, he came back down to the track. The man was actually sweating and breathing heavily. Will wonders never cease? He chugged down his bottle of water and the rest of mine in about 3 swallows. Lagging behind me to throw the bottles in the trash, he had just about caught up with me when I bent over, from the waist of course, to retie my shoelace. It had loosened up, honest! When I turned to say something to him, Ranger wasn't there. I looked around for him, and spotted him back on the bleacher stairs. Ranger had once told me that I could kill a man. I was pretty sure that I was well on my way!

I waved my arms, jumping up and down, and finally got Ranger's attention. I pointed back towards my apartment and took off at a pretty good clip. I hit the building and went straight to the laundry room to put my undies in the dryer. If I wanted to put on clean underwear today, I'd have to wait for it to dry. Of course, I could always go commando... nah. Probably too much for one day. It probably really would kill the man if I did that today. But there was always tomorrow ... !

I flew up the stairs and hit the shower. I shared the bathroom with Ranger on days we went running, and needed to be done quickly. I took care of all the necessities as fast as I could. I had to bring extra clothes with me to work today since I had an appointment with Police Chief Michael Rimbolli about the Karvic mess. I didn't want my lawyer to just waltz in there and yell, "Surprise! Here's a formal complaint!" without first giving Uncle Mike a heads up. I had laid out my clothes last night as I was getting ready for the party and all I had to do was add underwear ... shit! Honest to God, I didn't do this on purpose. I really forgot that all my underwear was still in the dryer.

I wrapped a towel around me tightly. I had to get something to put on so I could get downstairs to the laundry room. I open the door a crack and peeked out. "Ranger?" Good, no answer. I was still alone. I hurriedly rounded the corner into the bedroom and slammed into Ranger's bare chest. I would have fallen except he grabbed me by my upper arms.

I lost my hold on the towel and it started to slip. The only thing holding it up was the grip he had on me, clamping my arms to my sides. He pulled me against his chest and I gasped when I looked up into his face. His eyes were cold and feral, and I could see that he was closer to the edge of his control then I had ever seen him. I was the prey caught in the eye of the tiger. We just stood, frozen like that for a long minute, staring at each other.

My hands were resting on his chest and I was looking straight into his eyes. I gave him a gentle shove, just to send a message. "Ranger, remember, Tank negotiated a truce, not a surrender. I haven't forgiven and I haven't forgotten." I was amazed at how steady my voice was. He just looked down at me and, finally, drew a deep, shuddering breath. He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against mine. I knew he was fighting to regain his control. He swallowed hard and when he opened his eyes again, the Ranger I knew was back. "I know, Babe, I know" he whispered. He brushed my hair out of my face and kissed me gently on the cheek. Picking up his duffle, he went into the bathroom.

I sagged against the wall in relief. I had dodged a bullet this time. I would have to play the game much more carefully from now on. I had been having so much fun tormenting my tormentor, that I hadn't realized that I had tugged that tiger's tail once too often. I had no idea that I held that kind of power over the man. I couldn't let this go to my head. Tigers bite, and if I didn't want to be eaten alive, I'd have to learn to be subtle.

I pushed of the wall and went into the bedroom. I quickly pulled on shorts and a top and flew down to the laundry room. When I got back, Ranger was already in the kitchen pouring coffee. He glanced at me over his shoulder when I hesitated in the doorway.

"You better hurry up if you want breakfast." His voice was smooth and neutral.

I gave him a nod and hurried into the bedroom, closing the door behind me. I got dressed in record time, threw what I needed into my duffle and picked up the garment bag with my clothes in it. I took a deep breath and opened the door and breezed into the kitchen, dumping everything onto the table.

Ranger was leaning against the kitchen counter, sipping his coffee. I was actually a little unnerved by the incident in the bedroom and gave him a sideways glance without meaning to. Our eyes met for a brief second, and I moved past him to retrieve my cup.

He waited a few seconds, then said, "I told you that I'd never do anything nonconsensual. I'd never hurt you, Stephanie."

I was pouring my coffee and the carafe thunked down on the counter. I nodded my head, "I know that you'd never hurt me physically. But we both know that you could make me consent to just about anything you wanted."

I had finished adding the milk and sugar to my cup and was standing with my back to him, stirring the coffee. He came up behind me and took the spoon from my hand and placed it on the counter. Taking me by the shoulders, he turned me to face him and looked directly into my eyes.

"Are you saying that you think I would deliberately hurt you some other way?" His eyes studied me.

I dropped my eyes to his chest and didn't answer him.

"Stephanie, don't you trust me?"

I really didn't want to deal with this right now, but this was as good a time as any. I raised my eyes to his and kept my voice neutral, no emotion, just fact. "I trust you with my life, implicitly. I know that you would give your life for mine. And I trust you with my body. We both know what you can do to that. But my heart? No, Ranger. I can't trust you with my heart."

A flash of something passed over his face, surprise maybe, pain? Then his blank face fell into place and his voice held no emotion. "How can you say that?"

"Based on past performance, Ranger, based on the evidence. You were so busy escaping, trying to save yourself, that you didn't even notice what it did to me. You left without so much as a backward glance. That's not something a woman forgets."

I turned away from him again and just looked down at my coffee cup. I knew better than to try to pick it up. My hands were shaking and I couldn't let him see.

"Look Ranger, why don't you just go ahead and eat. I'm not really hungry this morning. I'll meet you at the office." I brushed past him and went into the bedroom.

I stood in front of the dresser and tried to put my gold studs into my ears. My hands were still shaking and I dropped the back. It bounced off the dresser and skittered across the floor until it stopped against the toe of a black boot. Ranger bent to pick it up and walked over to me. He took the stud out of my fingers and gently brushed my hair back, away from my ear. I watched him in the mirror as he gently inserted the earring and put the back on it, bringing my hair back into place. He picked up the other earring and repeated his movements on my other ear.

"Do you want to talk about this now?"

I ran my hands over my face and sighed. "No Ranger, I don't want to talk about it at all. I want to pretend that there's no problem between us. I want to go into the deep denial mode that you tap into."

Ranger moved behind me and ran his hands lightly down my arms before he wrapped is arms around me and pulled me back against his chest. He leaned his forehead against the back of my head and sighed deeply.

"What are we gonna do about us, Babe?"

"There is no us, Ranger. You've made that very clear. There's you and there's me, but there's no us. Your rules, remember? So lets just pretend that everything is great. We'll face things when the Karvic mess is settled. Okay?"

Our eyes met in the mirror and I could see that he looked as sad as I felt. I leaned back onto his shoulder and turned my face to his. He placed a warm, gentle kiss on my temple, then turned me in his arms so I was facing him. "Okay, Babe. We'll play this your way. I'll see you at the office." He kissed my mouth softly and left me leaning against my dresser.

Thirty minutes later I was in the office. Ella had warned me that today would be quiet, but this place was a tomb. Bobby was walking like he was balancing books on his head, like a Miss America wannabe. Lester was a shade of green that I've never seen before on anyone short of The Grinch. Hal looked like it hurt to move his eyeballs and even Cal's flaming skull tattoo looked sick. And they looked better than the rest of the guys! There seemed to be an individual pot of coffee on each desk. When I went into the break room there was a line up of antacids, Maalox, Advil, Tylenol, asprins, vitamins, sports drinks, water, and a number of things that I had no clue how to identify but which I strongly suspected contained eye of newt and bat's wings.

When I finally got to my cubicle I found Boston Creams and hot coffee on my desk. The only person in condition to get this little treat was Ranger, and he wasn't here yet. That could only mean one thing, one of the guys, all of whom were in terrible shape, had gone out to get this for me. I just wanted to shout, "Awwwww! I love you guys!" but I valued my life. Instead, I went through the office, silently administering the hang over remedy of choice to each of the Merry Men, who weren't so merry this morning!

Haver was going to be here at 9am to start the legal ball rolling. We were having a joint meeting, taking a look at all the evidence for both RangeMan's complaint, and since it overlapped, for mine. Everyone in on the takedown attempt, hung over or not, would be there. We would compare what we had each seen and heard, and solidify it into the evidence for both cases.

It bothered me that I still had nothing on Karvic. The more I thought about it, the more I was convinced that someone had sanitized his record. The mystery gnawed at me, it was like somebody dared me to find out who and why and, God help me, I could never turn down a dare! Since I had exhausted all the legal channels and searches at my disposal, I decided to get creative.

I put in a call to Silvio in Miami. Silvio's search engines were capable of doing much more in depth background checks than the ones I had access to here. He was more than happy to help when I explained the circumstances and said that he'd get back to me ASAP. He also congratulated me on my arrest and invited me to come to Miami so that they could throw me a 'real' party. I just might take him up on that. I really could use a vacation.

My next call was to Randy Briggs. Randy is a 'little person' with a BIG attitude. We met when he was FTA and I brought him in. He then moved into my apartment and proceeded to make my life hell until he almost got himself killed by a stalker. Mine. Needless to say, we were no longer roommates! Randy was a computer genius as well as a hacker. I swear he could access those satellites that can read the label on the ass of your jeans from outer space. While I'm not his favorite person, so okay, Randy doesn't like anybody, but I sent a lot of RangeMan business his way, so he owed me!

Randy liked a challenge as much as the next guy, but he hated the cops with a passion. The thought of taking down a cop, good, bad, or otherwise, jingled his bells, big time. As I gave him the information that I had on Karvic and told him what my spidey sense was screaming, I could practically hear his mouth watering. I just knew that he was gleefully rubbing his hands together in between entering the info into his computer. While Silvio would use all legal means to gather the information I wanted, Randy would use all his creativity, and that was something else entirely.

9 am found us all in the conference room. A large plasma TV had been brought in, as well as video enhancing equipment. Marcus Burke, RangeMan's video expert, had taken the audio from my mic and had overlayed it onto the video from the security cameras. Haver had greeted me when I had come into the room and had asked me to sit close to the TV since I was supposed to play commentator. He seemed to be concerned that I wasn't prepared to see the video. I thought that was pretty odd since I had been there when the video was made. I mean, how bad could watching it be? I assured him that I was just fine, so let's get busy. Haver sat on my right and Cal was on my left. Ranger,Tank, and the rest of the take down team who were at The Wharf, were seated around the table.

Haver slid a manila envelope down the table to me. It was sealed and stamped "EVIDENCE" and "CONFIDENTIAL". I looked at Haver and raised an eyebrow.

"The pictures that Officer Russell took that night. Will you be able to look at them? We need to create a time line and place each injury on it, as accurately as you can. These photos are for your eyes only in here and, of course, I'll need to see them, but I have to tell you that Karvic's attorneys will probably spread them all over the station." Haver's voice was soft and businesslike, but his eyes showed worry and concern. He thought I was gonna fold!

I nodded at him, picked up the envelope and tore open the seal. A stack of 8"X10" glossy photographs slid into my hand. Haver busied himself with his notes and Cal swiveled his chair to face Ram who was sitting next to him. Every RangeMan was looking at something other than me, to give me privacy. Except of course, Ranger, who never took his eyes off my face.

Robin had started at the top of my head and worked down from there. Here in living color was photographic proof of the black eye, the bruised and swollen cheek, the bruises on the back of my neck, shoulders, arms, waist, hips, the inside of my thighs. Ranger had marked my neck and the swell of a breast, but here were the pictures of the bruises on my breasts made by Karvic's cruel hands, not by Ranger's magic mouth. I looked at the pictures of my bloody elbow and knees, my wrists, no wonder they were still scabbed over and not healed yet. One after another, the pictures of a battered woman, me.

Those damned little black spots started to dance across my field of vision and the bells clanged inside my head. I could feel my heart trying to pound it's way out of my chest and for some reason I just couldn't take a breath. I closed my eyes and put my head down on my knees, determined that I wasn't gonna faint. It took a minute of telling myself to focus, but the feeling passed.

I took a deep breath and sat up. I could do this. I had to. I put the injuries in chronological order, and numbered the photographs, turning each face down on the table when I was done with it. I tried to appear cool and professional, but my stomach roiled and bile burned my throat. Ranger's eyes hadn't left me, I could feel them on me, but I couldn't meet his gaze. Haver asked if I was ready, and we all turned to the TV.

None of us had seen or heard the tapes and it was decided that we'd have a run through to see what was there before we analyzed anything. I really hadn't given this a second thought, I figured that it'd be like watching 'Cops'. But when the lights were turned off and the video came on, I heard Karvic's voice and watched what he had done to me. It was very different, knowing that I was the one on the screen.

I bolted to restroom where I proceeded to barf up my guts. I actually felt better after that. My eyes were streaming, my nose was running and I think I used a whole roll of toilet tissue mopping myself up. I hunted around under the sink and found some toothpaste and finger brushed my teeth. This was a co-ed bathroom since I was the only female at RangeMan, other than Ella. She kept the bathroom stocked with everything anybody could need. I wondered what the reaction was the first time the Merry Men saw the box of tampons. I was just about presentable when there was a soft knock on the door.

"Babe? Are you okay?" Ranger had tracked me down.

"Fine, thanks. I'll be right out." I opened the door and started back to the conference room. "Sorry about that. Must have been something I ate."

"Liar." He grabbed my hand as I passed him. He looked into my eyes, "Babe, you don't have to do this. You don ..."

I held my hands up in the classic 'stop' sign. "Yes, I do. I have to stop him. I just didn't expect this kind of reaction to the video. I'm sorry that I'm such a wuss. I embarrassed myself in there."

"Stephanie, you're one of the bravest people I know. You've been through more since I've known you than most men have in a lifetime and you always come out of it on top. You're no coward. We all know that and respect you for it. And yeah, sometimes you embarrass yourself, but not today, and not in there." All I could do was nod my thanks.

I walked back into the conference room and sat down in my chair. "Sorry guys. Let's get this going." I swiveled my chair to face the TV. Cal pulled his chair up next to mine and reached over to take my hand in his. Ranger stood behind me and put a hand lightly on my shoulder. It was good to have a support group.

The tapes showed it all. Karvic throwing me on the hood of the car, cuffing me, his hands under my clothes, grinding his crotch into me, pulling my hair, shoving me into the car, the push to the ground in the police parking lot, everything right there in black and white. The video was damning enough, but with the audio added to it, there could be no doubt! My mic picked up the conversation with Big Dog and Carl about Karvic admitting he knew about the takedown and crashed it anyway.

We watched it over and over and over again. Six times in all, and by the end, I no longer cringed at Karvic's voice or the scenes of his hands on me. It only confirmed my resolve to get even with the son of a bitch. Three hours later and we had all contributed everything we knew and I had a 1pm appointment with Chief Michael Rimbolli.

I went back to my cubicle and got my clothes and duffle. I had asked Tank if I could use his apartment on 4 to change. I didn't want to tempt fate by using Ranger's apartment and having him walk in on me. Once was enough. I had chosen not to wear my RangeMan uniform to the station. I wanted to send the message that this complaint was totally seperate from RangeMan's.

I dressed in a slim black leather skirt that ended about 2 inches above the knee with a matching waist length, buttonless jacket. A red sleeveless turtleneck, black pumps and simple gold jewelry, including my new necklace, completed the outfit. I did my hair up into a sleek twist and kept the makeup subtle. I looked classy and sophisticated, I hoped. I clipped my holster to the waistband of my skirt and my phone to my purse and I was ready to go.

I went back upstairs to get copies of the video and audio tapes, as well as the pictures Robin had taken, to bring to Uncle Mike. I'd already told Haver I wanted to do this, and due to my close personal relationship with the Chief, Haver saw no harm in it. The complaints were already expected, so this was just a courtesy. As I was leaving, I ran into Ranger.

"Want some company, Babe? I could go along for the ride and wait for you? I could hold your hand and carry your videos?" His voice was casual and teasing, as if he was asking if I needed a ride to the library. I guess he knew that I was a little weirded out by the thought of running into Karvic at the station.

"You gonna carry my books for me, too? Take me to the Sugar Bowl for a soda after class? Take me to the movies and try to kiss me in the back row?" I couldn't help but tease back; I needed to lighten the mood.

This got me a 200 watt-er. "I know better that to try to take advantage of an armed and dangerous woman."

"Oh, so how do you know I'm armed and dangerous, huh?" I smiled back.

He cocked an eyebrow at me. "I know that you're dressed, and Babe, you are by far, the most dangerous woman I've ever known."

"Well, I'll just take that as a compliment, thank you very much." I stepped on to the elevator. "I'll be just fine, thanks. I'll check in when I get back." I gave him a little finger wave as the doors closed. God, I wish he was going with me!

By the time I had driven to the station my knees were knocking. What in the hell had made me think that I could do this? At what point had my brain failed me and let me think that this was a good idea? I sat in the parking lot until two minutes to 1pm, just enough time to walk directly to Uncle Mike's office. I got out of the car and crossed the lot, headed up the steps to the back door of the station.

I made it to the Chief's office in 60 seconds flat. Stella Martucci, his secretary for the past fourteen years, greeted me with a hug when I walked in and ushered me right into his office. Uncle Mike stood and wrapped me in a bear hug. Stella asked if she could get me anything, and then quietly left the room.

"Hello Baby Girl." His booming voice bounced off the office walls. Uncle Mike was a bear of a man with a voice to match his size. He wrapped me in a hug that lifted me off the floor. "Haven't seen you in a long time. Now that you aren't bounty hunting full time, I don't get to see you as often. You look beautiful, as always. I still don't understand how your Dad and I couldn't figure out how to marry you off to one of my boys. I always did want you for a daughter." He gave me a great big smack on the cheek.

I laughed. This was a standing joke between us. Uncle Mike's five sons and I shared nothing in common. They had all married lovely, quiet, meek and mild, Stepford 'Burg girls. The lives they led were my idea of hell. PTA, bake sales, mini-vans, soccer, ugh!

He ushered me over to his office couch and we sat side by side. He looked at me and turned serious. "Are you all right, Stephanie. Your father called me a couple of days after this happened. You know that I was away on vacation, otherwise this would have been dealt with immediately. You wanna tell me about it?"

I thought for a second. "I'd really rather not tell you. I'd rather that you see it instead."

I pulled the copies of the video and audio tapes, and the photographs out of my bag and handed them over. "I don't want to be here when you watch these. But I want you to know that I don't think that this is the first time that Karvic did this, and unless he's stopped, it won't be the last time either. I intend to stop him. This is only about Karvic and me. There's no lawsuit involved. I don't want anybody else, civilian or cop, brought into this unless absolutely necessary. I think the evidence speaks for itself."

"Uncle Mike looked down at the pile of evidence in his hands. "I'm sorry that this happened to you on my watch. I don't like badge heavy cops, they're no good for the citizens and definitely no good for their fellow cops. I promise you that there will be a full and unbiased investigation." I knew that he was sincere. He made that promise, not because of who I was, but because of who HE was. A good cop and a good man.

I stood to go and Uncle Mike walked me to the door and hugged me again. "I love ya, Baby Girl. Give your Dad a message for me. Tell him to prepare to have his ass kicked on Wednesday night, he cleaned me out last week. I'm planning on getting even." I hugged him back and promised to deliver the message. Dad and Uncle Mike had played poker at the Lodge every Wednesday night for the past 35 years.

I stopped and chatted with Stella before I left. Stella had been Uncle Mike's secretary from the day after she graduated college, fourteen years ago. She was pretty in a pale sort of way, and always looked like she wanted to be invisible. She didn't date, if you believed the 'Burg gossip, and lived at home with her mother. I was pretty sure that she had a crush on Morelli when he was here, I could tell by the hunger in her eyes when she would watch us together. I suspected that she thought I was nuts for breaking up with him.

But Stella was always nice to me when I'd come in here. I'd known her since I was 16. She was one of the few people who sympathized with me after Morelli nailed me in the bakery and Trenton read about it on walls all around the 'Burg. Everybody in town thought he was the hero and I was just his last virgin sacrifice before he took off for the Navy. Nobody cared how I felt. Sound familiar? Yeah, another unhealthy pattern of behavior. I started young!

Anyway, I said good bye to Stella and I speed walked through the station to get back out to the parking lot and the safety of my car. I stepped out the back door, onto the the stoop, momentarily blinded by the bright sunlight. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust, but when they did, I realized that I had come face to face with Vincent Karvic.

We stood looking at each other for a few long seconds, before his mouth curled into a sneer and his eyes narrowed as he looked me up and down. He licked his lips as he reached out to touch me and I instinctively stepped back until he had me trapped against the railing.

"Well, well, if it isn't Sweet Lips. You here to see me? Plan on taking me up on that offer to go for a ride, just you and me? We could have a lot of fun together. At least I'd have fun. I could do things to you that would have you screaming." He leaned in close and put his hand on my face, running his thumb over my mouth, smearing my lipstick. "I bet you have a real talented mouth, Baby Girl." His hand continued down to my chest, picking up the tiny gold handcuffs. "Handcuffs. My favorite sex toy. Maybe I'll surprise you some night, and take you out ... to play." He backed away from me and went into the station. I could hear him laughing as he walked all the way down the hall.

TBC . . .

Please review. I'm such a review slut and Ranger loves them so much. He sits and reads them with his breakfast ... those wonderful eggwhite omelets and unflavored yogurt. He says that the reviews cheer up his food pyramid!


	14. Reeling In The Fish!

Disclaimer: All characters that you recognize belong to Janet Evanovich. Those that you don't, are figments of my imagination.

Warnings: These characters are adults. They think, talk, and act like adults. If you are easily offended or are underage, please read no futher.

A/C: Many thanks to all those wonderful readers who reviewed. Ranger loves to read them! Please keep 'em coming. Special thanks to MagS, for everything.

As The Worm Turns!

Chapter 14: Reeling In The Fish!

I got into my car and absolutely laid rubber out of the police parking lot. I flew through the streets of Trenton and pulled up to RangeMan in record time. I felt so vulnerable out here, I needed to get inside. The gate had never taken so long to open, not that I have any patience anyway. I screeched down the ramp and into my parking spot. Oh, thank God! All of Ranger's vehicles were here. Then it struck me. That's where I was headed. I was running to Ranger! I threw myself out of the car and practically ran to the elevator, mashing the call button a dozen times or more. As if that would make the damn thing move any faster.

When the car finally came, I barely let the doors open before I flung myself inside. I screamed when I felt hands grab me, before I realized who was holding me. When recognition hit, I sagged against him, my face buried in his neck. I had run straight into Ranger's arms.

"Jesus Babe! What's wrong? The security cameras on the top of the building caught you three blocks away. You were flying like a bat out of hell."

"To ... " I muttered into his neck. I was flying TO a bat out of hell, him.

"What did you say?" I just shook my head.

I couldn't speak. I just held onto him for dear life. He pushed a button on his remote and the elevator doors slid closed and the car started to move up. He held me close and settled his face against mine. He didn't say anything for a minute, he just held me tight and ran his hands up and down my back, soothingly.

"Stephanie, you're ice cold and you're shaking like a leaf." He leaned back from me and looked into my face. "Karvic?" I could only nod dumbly.

The doors opened and he scooped me up into his arms, carried me into his apartment, and straight through into the living room. He placed me on the couch, taking my purse and tossing it onto the coffee table along with the holster from my waistband. He slipped off my shoes and jacket and pulled an afghan off the back of the couch and wrapped me in it.

Scooting me up on the couch a little, he sat behind me, against the arm, and pulled me back against his chest. He settled me between his legs and wrapped an arm tightly around me. Ranger pulled out his phone and hit a number.

"Ella, could we have some of your special tea up on 7, please. And something sweet, too. Yes, for Stephanie. Just bring it right in when it's ready. Thank you."

I leaned back into him, eyes closed, when it dawned on me. Ranger had asked for sugar ... for me! I slid to the side so I could see him. He tightened his arm around me, and gave me a small smile.

"You're getting me something sweet? You're letting sugar into the inner sanctum? Why?"

"It's Plum Prozac. You need to calm down and sugar has that effect on you. You're still shaking, Babe, and I can feel your heart racing like a freight train."

I turned in his arms so that I could slip my arm around his waist and lay my head on his shoulder to look up at him. He had his arms around me, the blanket covering us both. He was studying me. Ranger reached into my hair and pulled out the pins. He ran his fingers through my hair, shaking it out of the twist and smiled down at me. "Now you look like my girl." He kissed my temple. We stayed like that, just holding each other, until the doorbell rang.

Ella bustled in with our tea. She brought the tray into the living room and put it on the coffee table. Ranger asked her to pour, and Ella removed the cozy from the teapot and filled our cups. She doctored mine with sugar and lemon and put it on the edge of the table. "Stephanie, I wasn't sure what you wanted, so I brought you several things. Ella lifted a silver dome and uncovered a plate from heaven. There was a huge brownie, a slice of lemon meringue pie, several sugar cookies, and an individual fruit tart. Oh my God! I love Ella. She asked if we needed anything else, smiled and winked at me, and left.

I cut my eyes to Ranger, waiting for the patented warning, "That stuff will kill you, Babe." But it never came.

We sat up and Ranger wrapped the blanket around me. I sat with my feet tucked under me. Ranger handed me my cup, but didn't let it go until he was sure that I could hold it without dousing myself in hot tea.

"Let me know when you're ready for one of these," he motioned toward the luscious treats on that plate. He looked at the array and smiled. "Ella's lemon meringue pie was always my biggest weakness." I think the thud of my jaw hitting the floor shook the building.

I leaned forward and looked him in the face. "Excuse me, did you just tell me something personal about yourself?"

Ranger looked at me, surprised, and thought for a second. "Yeah, Babe, I guess I did."

"Ya know that you can't do a take back on that, right? And you do realize that you've just given ammunition to the enemy?" I smiled. "You shouldn't give me information that I can use against you." I said, laughing.

I looked at Ranger. He was smiling at me, his wolf grin. His eyes were turning darker by the second and I knew he was conjuring up a mental image. I could only guess of what, but from his expression, I was in trouble ... again.

He took the cup out of my hands, put it on the coffee table. He pulled me across his lap, so that I was laying in his arms. "The only way that you could use that against me is if you smeared Ella's lemon meringue pie all over your body. Then you'd literally have me eating out of your hands and between your breasts, and between your ... " Then he kissed me. Oh Lord, did he ever kiss me. He kissed me the way I eat lemon meringue pie. He savored me. His mouth moved from mine to my forehead and my eyelids, my cheeks, my chin. His lips drifted over my jaw to that sweet spot just below my ear and he worshiped there. His teeth grazed my ear lobe and his tongue swept the shell of my ear. His hands were on my back and his fingers curled into my skin as the kiss intensified. The only way we could have gotten closer is if we were skin to skin.

A second later I found myself flat on my back on the couch with my leather skirt hiked up almost to my hips, and a very ... happy ... Ranger laying between my legs. His hand ran up my leg, under my skirt and played with the edge of my panties. He hooked his fingers under the elastic at my hip and tugged down. His fingers scorched my skin and I wanted this badly!

My hands were fisted in his hair, holding him to me, and I know I moved under him, trying to get him to that perfect spot. My hands found his back and I clawed at him through his shirt. We were both approaching frantic.

He found my mouth again and his tongue stroked mine in that primal dance that has kept the human race going since the beginning of time. He rocked himself against me, in a mirror image of that rhythm and I moaned into his mouth. I couldn't help myself. I wanted him in me. He was reducing me to a puddle of screaming hormones and if I didn't put a stop to this right now, the next time I came to, I'd be naked and screaming his name.

"Cookies," I croaked. "I'm ready for those cookies."

He stilled immediately and groaned. "You're trying to kill me, aren't you?" His head dropped to my shoulder and he chuckled and gave me a final kiss on the neck. "A long time ago I told you that you had the power. I just never realized that it was will power, Babe." He sat us both back up on the couch and handed me one of Ella's cookies.

We both sat there, trying to bring ourselves down to Earth, not an easy task, considering. My brain was telling me that I had done the smart thing, the right thing. My body was screaming, 'Stupid, stupid, stupid.'

"You were supposed to be helping me calm down, not getting me all worked up." I said as I straightened my clothes.

"I thought I was doing a pretty good job of distracting you, Babe." He ran his hand through his hair which had, somehow, come loose from the tie. And I had to admit to myself that he had thoroughly distracted me from my fears of Vincent Karvic.

"You ... are an evil man! Speaking of distraction, what time tonight?"

"I think we need to cancel for tonight." Ranger became suddenly serious. "You've been through a lot recently and I haven't helped you any. I'm afraid you're on overload. We can reschedule for another night."

"Ranger, we only have four more days on this contract. If he doesn't show tonight, you'll have to reschedule anyway. Tony Panzarelli needs to be in a cell and we need to put him there. Plus, I need the money."

"Babe, I thought you were doing okay financially. Doesn't RangeMan pay you enough?" I noticed that he didn't say 'I', which was a good thing.

"It's not that. I had a tidy little nest egg and was really very proud of myself. Ya know, it's funny. There I was, for the first time in my life, where I could afford just about anything I wanted, and I didn't really want anything. Well, almost."

"So what was it that called your name?"

I sighed and smiled at him. "Two things really. I walked into my apartment one day and took a good look at it, ya know, at what it said about me. I guess I didn't like what I saw. I gave more thought to where Rex lived then to where I lived. I decided that I was tired of living like a college student, with all the hand me downs and mismatched furniture. I realized I wanted a home, someplace that said something about who I was. So I went down to Cronin's and actually talked to a designer."

I reached over and picked up my purse. I rummaged around until I found the small folder that held the pictures of the things I had chosen and handed it to Ranger. He looked through it carefully and a smile spread across his face. "Timeless, classic, comfortable and very you. Is that a king size bed?" He gave me his wolf grin and I swatted him with one of the throw pillows from the couch.

"So what was your other guilty pleasure?"

I sighed. I was almost embarrassed to tell him. "The first time I met you, my Miata had just been repossessed. I loved that car. And I was passing the dealership the other day and the RangeMan SUV that you gave me to drive, just kinda turned in all by itself. And the next thing I knew I was in an office with a salesman who was telling me how much I needed for a down payment."

"You're actually gonna take a chance on another car? I told you that you were a brave woman! So why aren't you behind the wheel or sleeping in a new bed?"

I rolled my eyes. "Valerie and Albert finally found a house they could afford. There was another couple interested in it too, and there was sort of a bidding war. Val won, but that meant that they needed more cash for the down payment. So I cleaned out my savings account."

He sat there shaking his head at me. "You have the best heart of anyone I've ever known. You and I both know that you'll never see a dime of that money back. At least not unless Albert gets a personality transplant and turns into Johnny Cochrane or Allen Dershowitz. He may know his stuff and even be a good lawyer, but he doesn't have what it takes to be a success in that field."

I just shrugged. So what if I couldn't have the Miata right now. I'd be able to get it in a couple of months. Val was ecstatic and the girls had a nice yard to play in. The memory of a very sweaty and tear stained Albert trying to hug me still made me cringe. But it was worth it. I waited this many years to get my act together, I could wait some more. Making the decision to grow up was the hard part, and I had already done that.

"If you need money, you know that you can always come to me."

I barked out a laugh. "Oh sure, Ranger! Just what I need, financial indebtedness to the Man in Black. I'd be afraid what Third World Nation I'd wake up in if I missed a payment."

He gave me his full-on wolf grin. "Oh I wouldn't worry about the country, Babe. If I were you, I'd worry about the bed you'd wake up in. I think I'd make a great loan shark!" I swatted him again and we both laughed. "You are SO bad!"

Ranger moved the tea tray over and put his feet, ankles crossed, on the edge of the table and leaned his head against the back of the couch. He folded his arms over his chest. "Tell me about Karvic. Did he threaten you?"

I took a deep breath and blew it out noisily. "Yeah, no, I don't know. The man just creeps me out. He asked if I was there to take him up on his offer to go for a ride with him, alone. Told me he could do things to me that would have me screaming, but I don't think he meant it in a good way." Ranger reached over and took my hand in his. "He said he thought I must have a really talented mouth. The thing that freaked me out was when he picked up these," I lifted the little gold handcuffs, "and said that handcuffs were his favorite sex toy. Then he said that maybe he'd surprise me some night and take me out ... to play."

Ranger lifted my hand and brushed his lips over my knuckles. He took out his phone and dialed. "Haver. How's all the paperwork coming? Good. Listen, I think it'd be in Stephanie's best interest to have a restraining order against Karvic. He made some veiled threats when she was at the station. I want her protected legally. Okay, I'll tell her. Thanks."

I didn't need to hear the other half of the conversation to know what was going on. Haver would apply to the courts to have an order issued that would prevent Karvic from contacting me in any way. Whether or not he obeyed it, was a different story all together. But at least legally, if he tried to bother me, I could have him arrested. It was more of a formality than a guarantee, but if he did try anything, at least I had the law on my side.

"So what are you supposed to tell me?" The fact that I had to ask told me that it wasn't good news.

Ranger gave me a look that said he wasn't happy. "Haver will be filing the complaints today. He thinks that Karvic's lawyers will want to depose you quickly. Maybe as soon as Monday. He wants to work with you on the line of questioning he thinks they'll go for. He's afraid it's gonna get ugly, Babe."

I looked down into my cup, wishing I could read the tea leaves. That was Grandma Mazur's hidden talent. Ugly? Ugly I could handle! My spidey sense told me there was BIG trouble coming. So what else is new?

We sat and drank our tea. I ate a cookie and debated with myself over the merits of scarfing down the lemon meringue pie. I had skipped lunch to meet with Uncle Mike, so I was hungry. The longer I sat there looking at it, the louder it called my name. I leaned over and picked up the plate. I took a bite of pie on my fork. It had the perfect balance of crust, filling and meringue. I glanced at Ranger. He was watching me with dark eyes and I knew he had that mental image of me and the pie. I held out the fork to him, offering him that bite, but he shook his head.

I shrugged slightly. Too bad, you're missing out, I thought. I took the bit of pie myself and had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from moaning. I sighed in satisfaction.

"Are you sure that you don't want a taste?" Ranger just stared at my mouth and shook his head again. I almost snorted. And he thinks I have will power.

I polished off the pie, put the plate back on the table and leaned back on the couch. "I think I changed my mind, Babe. I do want a taste." And his mouth descended on mine. He kissed me slowly, running the tip of his tongue over my lips and when I opened them to him, he moaned into my mouth. That kiss was so thorough that I wouldn't have to brush my teeth for a week.

He moved his mouth to my ear and whispered, "The next time I see Karvic, I'll tell him that he was right. You do have a very talented mouth, from your pouty, cry baby lips to your teeth, to that wonderful tongue of yours. I'll tell him that I know from experience, past and present."

I blushed furiously because I knew that he was referring to our one night together. I had given as good as I had gotten that night. Ranger had writhed on my bed, fisting his hands in my sheets and my hair as I tortured him with my mouth. I often wondered if he ever thought about it. I guess I just got my answer.

"Okay! Time for me to leave. I have to get ready for tonight. I'll make up the time over the weekend. Will I see you tonight at The Wharf?" I stood and put on my jacket and shoes. I picked up my bag, clipped my holster back on my waist and started for the door.

"Running away, Babe?"

"You betcha!" I wasn't gonna tell him, but if I didn't get out of there right now, I was gonna throw him down on the floor and have MY wicked way with HIM!

"How about coming back here for dinner tonight?"

"Thanks, but no. Cal asked me to dinner and then he's taking me over to the bar." Ranger raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Okay, that's nice of him. How about tomorrow night then?"

"I'm sorry. Bobby asked me to go to the grand opening of that new club in Belmar, Chayne's? I haven't been out on a date in so long I can't tell you how excited I am."

"A date? You're going on a DATE with Bobby?" Ranger seemed incredulous.

"Yeah, a date! Why are you so surprised?" I think I was being insulted here. I turned to face him with hands on hips. "Don't you think there's anybody who wants to be seen with me in public? Don't you think that there's anybody who might enjoy my company? Somebody who thinks that I'm more than a piece of office furniture or a personal play toy?" How the hell could this man make me go from calm to pissed off in a nanosecond?

I stomped to the door and flung it open. Luckily the elevator was on 7 and the doors opened immediately. I stepped into the car and turned, crossing my arms over my chest. Ranger was two seconds behind me. As he moved to step into the car, I held my hand up and said "No! I've had enough!" and he stopped dead in his tracks.

As the doors closed on him, I swear I heard him mutter, "What the hell is it with that woman? I swear to God I only open my mouth to change feet?"

I covered my face with my hands so that the security cameras wouldn't tape me laughing my ass off at his confusion. Just another little dose of his own medicine to keep him off balance. By the time the elevator got to the garage level, I had composed myself. I hoped Ranger looked at the security tape, it'd look like I was crying. Served him right, the son of a bitch.

I hopped into my RangeMan SUV and headed home. I actually had time for a nap before I had to get ready for dinner and the distraction job. All of today's drama had really worn me out. I wasn't looking forward to seeing Tony again, but I hoped that this time, I'd just be able to waltz him out and get this over with.

I got back to my apartment in record time and put in a call to Christie to let her know that I'd be at the bar tonight to get Tony. She confirmed that he was supposed to be there. We chatted for a few minutes about girlie stuff and I headed into my bedroom. I stripped off my clothes, climbed into bed, assumed my thinking position and was out like a light in no time. It seemed like only minutes later when the alarm went off, but I actually had a three hour nap.

I hit the shower and took care of the essentials. I did the Jersey Girl hair thing but only put on a little make up. I'd put the rest on in the car on the way to The Wharf. Of course, I shouldn't be concerned about embarrassing Cal, considering that the man had a flaming skull tattooed on his forehead. I could walk in anywhere with him, dressed like Vampira or worse, and nobody would even notice me.

I chose low rider jeans and a halter top that fit like a bra. It had a fringe of beads that hung down to my waist. I had gotten it for a '60s Hippy Party that Mooner and Dougie had thrown last Halloween and kept it because I really looked good in it. I chose a black wrap around shirt to go over the top. It hid the beads and covered me up enough to go into a restaurant. 3" heeled boots completed the outfit instead of my usual 4 inchers, just in case I was gonna have to be on my feet all night ... again.

I was just throwing my makeup case into my bag when the doorbell rang. Cal was dressed like a construction worker and gave me a whistle and a wink when he saw me. He took my keys and locked the door for me and even rode the elevator to the first floor with me. He didn't feel the need to make a point bu taking the stairs.

Cal drove a new Ford F250 pickup with all the bells and whistles. It looked like a picture from Car & Driver Magazine. It was a gleaming, high gloss white with silver ghost flames down the sides. The sucker had a 10" lift with 40" tires. The rims alone cost more that the Miata I wanted. With the 6" smokestacks coming out of the bed, it looked like one of those Monster Trucks. What is it with guys and their cars? Even with the Nerf bars, I needed a ladder to get into it and I'm sure I'd need a parachute to get out!

Cal lifted me onto the Nerf bar and pointed out the hand holds so I could climb into the cab. Last year, Joe and I had gone to one of those indoor mountain climbing places. It was a blast but I wish I had paid more attention. I could have used the gear and the instructions now. This was like deja vu, all over again.

I was amazed. Who would have thought that a guy with a skull tattooed on his forehead would be such a Chatty Cathy? By the time we got to Yeager's Steak House in Hamilton Township, I knew that Cal had been married to a stripper who left him for Hugh Heffner, silicone implants, and a chance to be the September centerfold in Playboy Magazine. They had divorced six years ago. He didn't seem heartbroken over the whole thing, calling it a youthful indiscretion.

We gabbed all through my salad, filet mignon, baked potato, and cheesecake, and Cal's side of beef and whole vegetable garden. I even got the skull story. Cal had been in the Marines, big surprise! One drunken night in the Philippines, his equally drunken buddies had him tattooed as a joke. When they all sobered up, they told Cal that the skull had won out over the other choice: the word 'AMBULANCE', tattooed in reverse, just like they do on the front of real ambulances so that you can read it in your rear view mirror. Surprisingly, Cal didn't kill any of them.

He told me that it was the placement of the skull tattoo that made him decide to keep his head shaved. It seemed that Cal had a very distinct widow's peak. When he let his hair grow, it looked like the skull had a Mohawk. I was glad I didn't put on a lot of makeup. I was laughing so hard that I would have cried it off. Cal was funny and smart and charming, and I was having a wonderful time.

Cal had three years of college under his belt. He went at night and when he was through, he'd have a degree in psychology, with an eye toward profiling. When you were in the security business, having somebody who understood the mind of the bad guy could only be an advantage. I realized that while I loved all the guys I worked with, I was guilty of thinking of them as being one dimensional. I'd have to work on changing that.

We pulled into the parking lot at The Wharf. Nothing had changed, not that I really thought that it would. Cal had watched while I put on the rest of my make up in the restaurant parking lot, asking if I needed a trowel. I just glared at him, but now looked like I belonged in the seediest part of town.

"Mic, please." Cal took it out of it's case and turned it on. He gave me a huge smile. I was positive that he was up to something. I just didn't know what! I took off my shirt and held out my hand for the mic. Cal looked at me and let out a long, low wolf whistle.

"Damn Bombshell! You're dangerous! You sure you don't need help with that thing? Making sure that it's in the right place and all? I'd be more than happy to lend a hand or two."

"Have you been taking 'helpful' lessons from Lester? He always offering to put his hands someplace that'll get him in trouble. Sounds like you're hanging around with a bad crowd. You just turn around and look the other way!"

Cal's cell phone rang before I finished talking. He grinned as he looked at the caller ID.

"Yo, Boss."

"No Boss. Wouldn't think of it. Yup, she's right here." He passed the phone to me.

"Ranger."

"Babe, is he giving you a hard time? Do I need to come out there?"

This was just bizarre. I had Ranger on the phone, offering to come and rescue me from a man who looked like he was gonna bust a gut from trying not to laugh out loud. What the HELL was going on?

"Ranger, I'm just fine. I don't need any help, thank you. I'll be inside in a minute." I was talking to Ranger and glaring at Cal.

"Okay, Babe. If you're sure. Remember, we all have your back. Go get 'em, Tiger."

"Okay, I'll see you inside. Get my condoms ready." This earned me a pained groan.

I had the phone flipped closed before it dawned on me that I had hung up first. This was a cardinal sin where Batman was concerned. Ooops! Bad Stephanie! How do you like being hung up on, Ranger?

I looked at Cal again, who was still having trouble gaining control of himself. "What is the matter with you?" Cal was practically rolling around the seat. He held is finger to his lips in the 'Shhhh' signal and pointed to my cleavage. I knew he was pointing at the mic and not my boobs, but I still had no idea what was so funny. I finally gave up.

"Okay, I'm outta here. You coming? I need help getting out of this truck. You didn't provide rappelling gear."

Cal opened his door and almost fell out of the truck. By the time he came around to collect me, he had managed to stop laughing, but only just. He helped me climb down from Mt. Everest and once I was on the ground Cal said he had orders from Tank and he bent down and kissed me on the lips. "Go get 'em, Tiger." Cal watched until I went into the Employee Entrance and he headed for the front door.

I had seen the guys in their vehicles, and as I crossed the lot they flashed their headlights at me, letting me know that they were on guard, and that they liked what I was wearing! I felt a lot better about the takedown tonight than I had the first time I was here. Maybe it was because Ranger had made that traditional call. Who knows, but I put on my game face and got to work.

Christie was waiting for me inside. We went into the locker room and I put away my bag and shirt, touched up my whore red lipstick, stuffed my gum in my mouth and we sashayed out onto the floor. Ranger was behind the bar, washing glasses, when I walked up. He dried his hands and took out an accounting book, gave me my six red condoms and made a show of welcoming me back.

"You must have had a really good time with Cal tonight. You certainly showed him a lot of gratitude." His mouth was smiling, but Ranger positively growled at me.

I looked at him like he was nuts! "I have no idea what you're talking about, Ranger. Care to explain?"

"He came in here wearing as much lipstick as you are. It isn't his shade." Ranger was being snarky.

"I seem to recall that last time, it was YOU who was wearing my lipstick. Didn't suit you either!" My mouth was smiling, too, but my eyes were shooting daggers.

My 'regulars', Tank and Cal, hugged me. Hector came over and asked if I had 'made a new friend' of the cop who arrested me. I smiled at him, but when no one was looking, I gave him the evil eye. He grinned back and patted me on the butt. I know what you're thinking! Hector is gay, but remember, he's playing a customer here.

Tony and his buddies were playing pool. I picked up my tray and swung my hips over to that section and started clearing empty bottles and glasses, ferrying them back to the bar. When I got over to the pool tables, they stopped playing to talk to me.

"Hey, Sweet Lips, you owe me a trip to the parking lot." Tony leered at me. I swear he was wearing the same clothes as last time. From his aroma, they hadn't been washed and neither had he. I had to remember to mouth breath when I was near him.

"How ya figure that?" I stuck out a hip and put my fist on it, classic Jersey Girl attitude!

"I still have a pretty little red condom that hasn't been used." He took the condom out of his shirt pocket. Oh ick, he waggled his eyebrows at me. I should thank my lucky stars that he didn't wag something else at me!

"Ya got a receipt to prove ya paid for that? Huh?" As much as I wanted to get him out of here, I couldn't let him get suspicious.

"You go talk to the bouncer and if he tells me you're okay, you'll be first on the list. Now what can I get you guys?" They gave me their orders and I went back to the bar.

Ranger had been watching me closely. He put the beers on the bar and reached out to play with my dangle earring. He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. He was still pissed off and so was I. He was putting an act for the customers. "Haver called. He filed the complaints this afternoon. Karvic has already been suspended with pay pending a complete investigation by the Internal Affairs Division."

I smiled back and ran my index finger over his lips. We had an audience so I acted like I was flirting with him, too. Tony hadn't taken his eye off me since I walked away from him.

"That was quick. How did Haver make that happen so fast?"

He ran a finger down the side of the halter top, just skimming the side of my breast. "Haver said that the action was taken not just because of the formal complaints, but because of the evidence that you brought to the Chief, and that Judge you have in your pocket. The Judge raised holy hell over Karvic wasting the Court's time with a false arrest."

"Well then, I guess it's good to have friends in high places." I conjured up my most sultry look and when I touched the middle of my upper lip with the tip of my tongue, Ranger groaned.

I took my tray to deliver the beers to Tony and his cronies when a bouncer came over to tell me that Tony did get a trip out to the parking lot. Fantastic! All I had to do was waltz him outside and zap him, and we were all home free! Well, Tony's ass wouldn't be, but that was the whole idea!

Everybody was getting into position. Cal waved as he walked out the door and I blew him a kiss. Tank wrapped an arm around my shoulders and I gave him a condom then continued over to the pool tables. I handed the beer out to Tony and Company and smiled up into his little pig eyes.

"Okay Big Guy, you're my first customer tonight. My break starts in about 15 minutes. I can promise you an electrifying night!" I made kissy lips at him, collected the empties and headed back to the bar.

I told Ranger I was going to the Locker Room and headed toward the back. I gave a nod to Hector, who followed about twenty feet behind me. I went in and got my stun gun from my bag and slipped it into my pocket, just in case.

I walked back out and gave a smile to Christie who was working the other side of the bar. She winked at me and gave me a thumbs up. I nodded at her and put my arm around Hector, who was waiting just outside the Locker Room door. As we came into the pool section, I slipped a condom out of my pocket and into Hector's.

Hector grinned at me. "Too bad that will go to waste, Querida. You almost make me wish I was straight. Tell me, are you free next Saturday night?

I snorted. "Hector, my social life has hit an all time low. I'm free just about every night."

"I have tickets to 'Wicked' in New York. My partner must work that evening and I wondered if you would care to see it with me? I know how you love the Wizard of Oz."

"Hector, I'd love to go. I haven't been to Broadway in ages. Thank you, it's so great to have something to look forward to!" And I planted a big kiss on his lips.

"Hey! Sweet Lips! How come you kiss these other guys but you won't kiss me?" Tony yelled from the other side of the bar.

"When you spend as much money on me as they do, I'll kiss you, too!" Yeah, and the devil would be ice skating in hell and we'd all be dodging flying pig shit!

I looked over at Ranger. "Hey, Carlos, I'm going on my break. Tony! Come on Big Guy, let's get this show on the road!"

Bobby was playing bouncer tonight, and walked over to the door ahead of me. Tank and Hector went to the pool table to keep Tony's buddies busy, and Tony hustled over to me.

I took Tony's sweaty hand (ugh!) so I could steer him where I wanted him to go, and we walked through the door that Bobby held open for us.

Once in the parking lot, Tony tried to pull me over to his truck but I pointed to one of the RangeMan vehicles toward the back of the lot. Tony smiled at the prospect of a bigger playpen, and trotted along beside me like the dirty dog that he was.

About 200' from the door, Bobby caught up with us. I heard that delightful little 'dziiit' sound a stun gun makes and Tony went down like a bag of rocks. Hal, Cal, Ram, and Bobby brought cuffs and shackles and went to work. Lester backed the SUV over to where Tony lay like a stinky beached whale. Since my presence was no longer necessary, I went around the building to the Employee Entrance so that I could get my bag and shirt and say good bye to Christie.

I grabbed my stuff from the locker and stopped at the sinks to wash up. Since I'd probably go to the police station with the guys to drop off Tony and pick up the body receipt, I decided to wash the makeup off and de-poof my hair. I had finished putting my hair up into a pony tail and had just dried my face when a movement in the mirror caught my eye. The door to the locker room was half open and I could see the hall outside reflected in the mirror.

I watched as Joey Dee made his way quietly down the dark hall toward the back of the building. A few seconds later, I froze as I caught a glimpse of Vincent Karvic, glancing back over his shoulder, sneak down the hall after Joey. A small noise made me turn. Christie followed them, tucking a gun into the back of her jeans. I pulled on my black shirt, grabbed my Sig out of my purse and joined the parade.

TBC ...

Please read and review. Now Ranger wants to read them while soaking in the Jacuzzi. sigh Men!


	15. Something's Fishy!

Disclaimer: Any character you recognize belongs to Janet Evanovich. Those you don't are figments of my imagination, except one, who you all know but don't realize it yet!

Warnings: Language, violence, all 12 books, sex, drugs, rock and roll, bad writing, you name it, you've been warned!

A/N: Special thanks to my Technical Advisor (you know who you are, and so does everybody else) for the first hand info on weapons of choice for gun runners and drug dealers. If they only knew what your real job is ... !

As The Worm Turns!

Chapter 15: Something's Fishy!

I kept my gun in my hand as I followed the procession to the back of the building. I, unfortunately, have never picked up Ranger's talent for sneaking up on anybody. I wish I had paid more attention, because here I was, pressed against the wall, staying in the shadows, trying to remember how he did it.

Quiet wasn't my strong suit and trying to sneak after everybody in these boots wasn't cutting it. The heels made little clicking noises that echoed off the walls. I leaned against a crate to slip them off and I hid them behind the box. I took a couple of steps, to see if I could move quietly. That was better, but I knew I was gonna have to be very careful if I wasn't gonna be discovered. I glanced over my shoulder to make sure that I wasn't being followed.

The farther back down the hall we went, the darker it got. I could barely make out Christie, who was about 25' ahead of me. Eventually my eyes adjusted to the dark and I could see her stop every few feet, to wait a second or two, before continuing on. She was obviously following Joey and Karvic, and so focused on them that she didn't realize that I was behind her. I kept my eyes on her and copied her movements. I didn't want to get caught. All I wanted was to find out what the hell Karvic was doing with Joey Dee.

Joey Dee was supposed to be a low-level Mafia soldier. Most suspected that it wasn't true because Joey was known for his harebrained get rich quick schemes, which would not have flown well with The Family. He had a reputation for being involved in some shady activities, so maybe that's where the Mafia connection came in. That's why it had been so easy for RangeMan to convince him to let us use the bar to take down Tony. Well, convince wasn't quite the right word. It was more like . . . blackmail. Joey was more sleazy, slimy, and stupid than dangerous, but even Rex will bite when he's cornered.

The Wharf is actually an old wooden warehouse. It had probably been abandoned since 1950. Built on huge pilings, the back of the building was out over the river. Underneath, a series of stairways and ladders connected the old floating docks down on the water, with the warehouse itself, above on the embankment. It was a dark, spooky, smelly place, populated by rats and mice, and bugs that I didn't even want to think about.

Joey had purchased several of these old warehouses, dirt cheap. That had been one of his schemes. He only converted one of them, this one, into The Wharf. He had told everybody that the others were going to be converted into condos. He never found any investors, and rumor had it, that he never even looked for any. The other properties stood empty and decaying.

Inside, a hall ran the length of the building and here and there were crates and boxes that could provide hiding places if I needed them. I was barefooted and could feel debris under my feet. I was being as careful as I could in the dark. I couldn't afford to step on anything sharp, but if I wanted to follow them, I had no choice in the matter. Dim light that came through the whitewashed windows high in the wall provided the only illumination. The dark spaces and shadows concealed me as I moved down the hall.

The hall ended at a set of huge wooden, sliding doors. I got close enough that I could see Joey and Karvic put an iron key into a large, old-fashioned padlock and open it. I could hear the heavy chain run through the door handles, pulled downward by the heavy padlock. It hit the floor with an ominous thud that echoed through the building. For some reason the sound made me shiver. With Karvic on one side and Joey on the other, they pushed the doors apart. The doors opened smoothly and silently on large rollers in tracks at least 15 feet off the floor. Somebody had obviously spent a lot of time on them, to make something that old work that well.

Karvic and Joey moved through the doorway into the warehouse part of the building. It was one huge room, that seemed to be half the size of a football field. The windows were a good 25' up in the walls and the ceiling of the room was lost in the darkness. The only light was from the full moon that seemed to hang outside the painted glass of the windows.

The two men pulled out flashlights and moved to the middle of the floor where their lights showed a large trapdoor. I saw Christie's silhouette follow them through the doorway, then soundlessly dart off to the right. I moved up to the same doorway and watched, moving into the room and to a stack of crates to the left. Another padlock and chain was removed and the heavy wooden trapdoor was lifted and allowed to crash back onto the floor. A dim light shone up from below and I could hear the mumbling of voices that drifted up through the opening. Karvic and Joey went down the rickety stairway toward the river. The light from their flashes disappeared with them. Ten seconds later, I realized that Christie had followed them.

Ranger told me that I was brave, but I had to disagree with him. It wasn't bravery that had me here, it was plain old curiosity. One of these days, I was gonna use up my ninth life, and then what? I'll admit that all too often my curiosity had gotten the better of me and because of that, I've done some pretty stupid stuff. But even I knew better than to go down those stairs. It didn't mean, though, that I couldn't try to spy from up here.

I waited about 30 seconds, then made my way over to the trapdoor. I got down on my hands and knees and peeked over the edge. There was no sign of Christie, but I could see Karvic and Joey who were standing on the landing two levels down, lit by a naked lightbulb. Karvic was talking to somebody, but I couldn't see who. He was clearly angry, telling the unseen party that they had chosen the worst possible time to make a delivery. He said that RangeMan was crawling all over the place and they were just asking to be caught. I couldn't hear the other voice and couldn't tell if it was a man or woman.

A long, low scraping sound caught my attention. I could make out two figures dragging and pushing a wooden box into the circle of light. Two young men in do-rags came into sight and one pried open the top of the box. It was filled with packing material. One dug into the shreddings and pulled out a rifle. I knew an AK-47 when I saw one, and this was one! Karvic took the gun and inspected it. He lifted it and sighted it upward, toward the open trapdoor. I heaved myself away from the opening, rolling across the floor. I froze, holding my breath. My body was tensed for flight in case he had seen me, and my Sig was back in my hand. I waited for what seemed like an eternity, but no one came up the stairs.

I crept back to the trapdoor. This time I lay on my stomach, and looked over the edge again. I had changed my vantage point, and now I could see who Karvic was talking to. I recognized that face. I had seen it in the holding cell just before I passed out, the night I spent in jail. He and Karvic and Joey Dee were exchanging angry words. Gang Guy wanted his money and Karvic and Joey wanted him to wait until they passed the guns on. Gang Guy was NOT happy, telling Karvic and Joey that they needed him.

"You need me, suckah. Who else you got gonna take the chances we do? Huh?"

"There's always somebody willing to risk it all for a buck. You can all be replaced in a New York minute." Karvic sneered at him.

Gang Guy was in Karvic's face. A pale Joey Dee was backing away, probably looking for someplace to hide.

"Don' you go thinkin' you da boss. We both in dis deep. I go down, so do you. I make sure a dat." Gang Guy was poking Karvic in the chest.

"Don't threaten me. You don't know who you're fuckin' with. You're just the delivery boy. I get the guns, I find the buyers, I make the deals. Don't let the money I'm paying you go to your head. Without me, you got nothin' to deliver. You're just a flunky."

The insult stung, I guess, because Gang Guy went for his gun, which he had stuck in the front of his pants. Karvic grabbed his hand and twisted it back. I heard the bones break all the way up here. Gang Guy never even flinched, but shot a look to his buddies who were still standing next to the crate of rifles.

One of the guys moved to draw his weapon, but Karvic was quicker. In an instant Karvic had pulled his gun and shot the boy right between the eyes. His head snapped back, and he fell in slow motion, down onto the wooden stairs, a look of surprise frozen on his face. His dead eyes stared right up into mine.

It had all happened so quickly that I didn't even have time to react. When the adrenaline hit, I was on my feet, sprinting across the warehouse floor as fast as my body would move. I made it all the way to the doors before I threw myself behind the crates stacked there. It would be easier to find a hiding spot here in the dark than out in the hall. It was brighter out there, and I didn't want to give Karvic a clear target if he had heard me. My luck was holding though, nobody followed, and I finally took a breath.

I stuck my Sig into the back of my jeans and moved cautiously to the doorway. Once out in the hall, I would be home free. All I had to do was collect my boots and nobody would ever know I was a witness to a murder. It hit me like a baseball bat. Oh shit! I was a witness to a murder! I had watched that boy die. I needed to get the hell outta there fast. I knew that Ranger and the guys would be looking for me. I had been gone awhile. I had to get back, now!

I moved cautiously to the doorway, ready to slip out, when I suddenly knew I wasn't alone. There was somebody standing behind me. I tried to grab my gun, but a hand clamped tightly over my mouth and my arms were pinned to my sides in a vice like grip. I struggled against him, but he lifted me off the floor. I twisted hard in his arms and tried to bite the hand over my mouth with no success. I kicked back as hard as I could and caught him on the knee with my heel. He staggered and went down on his knees, almost dropping me.

I landed on the floor on all fours and wound up with my attacker draped over my back. I managed to pull out the Sig but he grabbed my wrist and knocked my hand against a packing crate. I lost my grip on the gun, and it skittered across the floor into the hall. I scrambled to get away from him but he still had his hand over my mouth, his fingers biting into my cheeks. He reared back up on his knees and slammed my head back into his rock hard chest, making me see stars. Putting my feet against the crate, I pushed as hard as I could. I knocked the man off balance and he fell onto his back, taking me with him. He rolled over hard, pinning me to the floor with his full weight. I dug in my nails and clawed at the hand over my mouth as hard as I could. He pulled my head back and I felt cold metal touch my throat and heard the telltale sound of a stun gun. I fell into the big black hole that opened up in front of me, thinking that I really needed to be more aware of my surroundings.

I came to, but I couldn't pry my eyes open. Ranger was on one side of me stroking my cheek, and Hector was on the other side, rubbing my wrists.

"Babe. Babe. Come on Babe, open your eyes for me."

"Querida, abrase los ojos. Bebe, come on Steph, despierte." (Open your eyes, wake up.)

I could hear myself groaning. I felt like I had run over by a truck. Well I guess I had. That guy had thrown me around like a rag doll. Hell, even my hair hurt. I raised my hands to my face and rubbed my eyes. I managed to get one opened, and saw two Rangers and two Hectors. The room spun and even when I opened the other eye, it didn't stop.

I was laying on the floor in the Locker Room, in front of the sinks. Wasn't this where I started? How the hell did I get back here?

I saw Rose, the waitress with the two little boys, standing just behind Ranger. She handed him a wet towel. He gently washed my face and slowly sat me up. My head was still spinning and a pounding headache was starting right behind my eyes. Ever since Scrog had stunned the crap outta me, I had been super sensitive to the stun gun. I sat cross legged on the floor with my face in the wet towel.

I needed to talk to Ranger, but I couldn't tell him what had happened in front of Rose. I settled for trying to get the room to slow down.

Hector helped me to my feet, and my stomach rolled, hard! I clapped my hand over my mouth and bolted for the stalls. Ranger moved to follow me, but Rose grabbed him by the arm.

"Let me take care of her. You guys go wait outside. She'll be okay." And she pushed Ranger and Hector toward the door.

Rose followed me into the stall and held my hair back from my face while I puked up my guts. Twenty minutes later, I had the shakes, but I finally hit empty. With Rose's help I staggered back to the sinks to wash my face and try to clean up. Rose handed me a tube of toothpaste and a new toothbrush.

She looked at me in the mirror while I brushed my teeth, studying me carefully. "You pregnant?"

I snorted. "Nope. Not possible."

"Ya never know. Birth control doesn't always work. You two would sure make beautiful kids."

I stared at her in the mirror, obviously not following.

"You and the big guy. You two can't keep your eyes off each other. I figured you couldn't keep your hands off each other either."

"No. He's my boss and my friend. Not my lover."

"Honey, are you sure you're not pregnant? You look like you got all the symptoms. You fainted and then the vomiting. You're pale. It sure looks like it to me."

"Rose, I hate to disappoint you, but pregnancy requires sexual contact. It's been so long since I've had an orgasm with more than one person in the room, that I'm practically re-virginized."

I picked up my bag, and realized from its weight that my gun was in it. This was getting more bizarre by the minute.

I thanked Rose and she went back to work. I walked out the door and there stood Ranger, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest and a shit eating grin on his face.

I sighed. "You heard that whole conversation, didn't you?"

"Re-virginized?"

"You're gonna torture me with this, aren't you?"

"Well, let's just say it conjures up a whole new set of mental images I have for you, Babe. You and your Lady Workhorse, you and your shower massager, you and that cherry bod . ." I swatted him on the arm and he chuckled.

"Yeah, well just wipe your mind clean. I'm not playing Little Red Riding Hood to your Big Bad Wolf, so get over it."

"I think you're trying to ruin all my fun!" He turned serious. "So what happened Babe? Why did you faint?"

I looked around to make sure that there wasn't anybody within ear shot. Still, I lowered my voice to a whisper. "I didn't. I was stun gunned back in the warehouse and woke up here."

Ranger cocked that damned eyebrow at me and I quickly told him the whole story. He looked at me like he wasn't sure if I had dreamed the whole thing while I was passed out.

"Ranger, look at my feet."

He expression said that I had lost my mind and he was contemplating calling the little men in the white jackets with the butterfly nets.

"Just look at my feet . . . NOW!" I hissed at him.

He looked down and his eyes widened (well, for Ranger) in surprise. He raised his eyes to mine.

"Right. I'm a big girl and I haven't put my shoes on the wrong feet since I was three years old. Somebody put them on me, wrong."

Ranger leaned down and slipped the boots off, holding them by the heels. I brushed at the dust and dirt on the soles of my feet. I held out my hand for the boots, but Ranger shook his head. "Prints," was all he said.

"My gun's back in my bag, too. I think that whoever jumped me, was trying to protect me, not kill me. He could have just snapped my neck, but he didn't. And he brought me back here and put me in the Locker Room so Karvic and Joey wouldn't know I was out in the warehouse. All I have to do is figure out who it was."

"You're not figuring out anything, tonight. You've had enough. It's after midnight, and it's time to go home."

"Oh my God, Ranger! Where's my brain? Christie! I need to find Christie. She went down that stairway. What if they saw or heard her? I can't leave her there. I have to go bac . . . "

"Babe. Babe! She's out on the floor. She passed me while I was waiting out here. She looked just fine. Come on, let's get out of here."

"Ranger, what's the matter with you? How can you be so calm? They're gun running here. Karvic killed somebody! That crate had a U.S. Army logo on it. Those guns were probably stolen from the government and being sold to God knows who and . . . " Ranger gently placed his fingers on my already swollen lips.

"Shhh, Babe. There's nothing we can do about it right now. If everybody you saw is still here, we're outnumbered. The guys are all gone and it's just you and me and Hector. We're better off just getting out of here and not letting them know that we're suspicious. Karvic killed one guy. He won't hesitate to kill again to protect himself. So let's do a little nosing around off site, and see what we come up with. Okay?"

I knew he was right, but the thought of the bad guys getting away just made me furious.

"Come on, Babe. Let's make this look good." He picked me up and I put my head on his shoulder and tried to look pitiful. Not a stretch at this point. As Ranger carried me through the bar, Christie came over, playing along for the sake of the other waitresses and the customers.

"Honey, are you okay? Rose told me you fainted and I was worried about you."

"Thanks, I'll be fine. Carlos is gonna take me home now. I'll call you tomorrow."

She held the door open for us, and nodded good-bye.

Ranger looked at me. "You've never called me Carlos before, Babe."

I looked at him seriously. "I guess that's because I've only met Ranger."

"Well, we'll have to do something about that, won't we?" And he gave me a small smile.

Hector had pulled the SUV in front of the door and we loaded up and took off. We filled Hector in on the whole story. He said that he'd use his contacts to see if there was any talk on the streets about gun running. Since the Ramos Family were the go-to people for guns, they certainly wouldn't like anybody trying to muscle in on their territory. He'd also check out the gang connection.

The first stop was Haywood, where Hector dropped off my boots to be fingerprinted, then picked up his own car and went home. Ranger took me back to my apartment. We went upstairs and he did his usual walk through, checking under the bed for killer dust bunnies and in the closet for psychotic FMPs.

"Do you want me to stay tonight?" When he saw my expression, he said, "I won't take it as a sexual invitation."

"You gonna sleep on the couch?"

He grinned at me. "I didn't before, I'm not starting now. If you can control yourself, Babe, so can I. But if you molest me, all bets are off!"

I went into the bedroom with Ranger following me. Opening the bottom drawer of my dresser, I took out the pair of black silk boxers that had been left here after the Scrog business. Okay, so I kept them. Sue me! I turned and handed them to him. He looked at me and gave me his wolf grin.

"Not gonna work as a chastity belt." He put his arms around me and drew me close, my head just naturally finding his shoulder. "You go take a shower and get into bed. Then I'll take mine and by the time I'm through, you'll be sound asleep. I'll keep watch over you tonight, make sure that no one hurts you. And that includes me."

My arms were around his waist and I gave him a squeeze. "Thanks." I looked up at him and he kissed me, chastely and sweetly. "Go, before I change my mind." He steered me toward the bathroom. I looked back at him, almost feeling guilty.

It worked out the way he said. I only vaguely remembered him climbing into bed, but I did recall curling up in his arms and falling into a dreamless sleep.

I woke up tangled in Ranger. My head was tucked under his chin and our arms were wrapped around each other. His leg was thrown over mine and we were chest to chest and groin to groin. My shirt had ridden up and his hand was high on my bare back. It felt so right, laying here with him. I glanced over at my clock, 7:58am. It was time.

I found myself kissing him right below his ear and I swear he purred. I trailed open-mouthed kisses down his neck and over his shoulder. Pushing him over onto his back, I straddled him. He put his hands on my hips and I removed them, pushing them onto the bed, letting him know I wanted him to keep them there. I kissed him deeply, slowly, erotically and broke the kiss only to trail more kisses along his jaw. I ran my tongue down his neck to lave the hollow at the bottom of his throat and I ran wet kisses and licks along his collar bone. I blew on the wet trail I had left there and felt the shudder pass through his body. My tongue made small wet circles on that sweet spot where his neck and his shoulder joined and when I sucked the skin into my mouth he groaned and arched his neck. I marked him hard and deep. He'd wear that bruise for quite awhile.

I scraped my nails over his nipples and I felt him shiver as I slid down his body to suckle on them and nip them with my teeth. He was groaning while I ran wet kisses down his stomach and outlined his abs with my tongue. When I French kissed his navel, dipped in my tongue and swirled it around, he fisted his hands into my hair and writhed under me. I felt him, rock hard, as I moved further down his body, and hooked my fingers into the waistband of those boxers. I inched them down nuzzling the silky line of hair between his navel and the Holy Land. He was panting as I nibbled my way to his hip and had just sunk my teeth into his hip bone, when we heard pounding on my front door.

"I'll take care of it," I said as I popped out from under the covers and grabbed my Beretta from under the pillow. Tucking the gun into the back of my shorts, I jogged to the front door and checked the peephole. "It's for you," I yelled back into the bedroom and threw the door open.

"Hi Ella! What are you doing here this early." I sounded bright and chipper even to myself.

Ella wore a smile a mile wide. "Oh Stephanie, I hope I didn't get you out of bed." I clamped my hand over my mouth so that Ranger wouldn't hear me laugh.

"Tank told me that Ricardo needed some things here. I had to be over on this side of town this morning, so I volunteered to drop them off. I also brought you breakfast."

"Why thank you, Ella. How sweet of you!" I rolled my eyes at her.

The shower started as we walked into the kitchen and Ella and I fell into each other's arms, laughing like loons.

"Oh Ella, your timing was impeccable. 8:03 on the dot! Thank you so much for doing this for me. I know that calling you so late made it difficult, but the opportunity presented itself and . . . "

"Stephanie, we could not work with military men without learning that we must seize every opportunity that presents itself. That is how one gains the advantage. Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help you on your mission. I almost feel sorry for Ricardo . . . almost. But he is getting nothing less than what he deserves. Good luck my dear." She kissed me on both cheeks and she headed out the door.

I took the duffle that Ella left, and placed it outside the bathroom. I knocked and told Ranger that it was there and received a grunt in reply. I hurried into the bedroom and collected my clothes so that I could hustle into the bathroom as soon as Ranger came out. I wanted to be fully clothed the next time we came face to face.

Some time later the shower finally stopped and the door opened. A rather grim Ranger stepped out. I darted past him into the bathroom and, as I locked the door said, "I hope you left me some hot water." His reply of, "Didn't use any!" just made my day!

I took a nice toasty warm shower and did the hair and makeup thing. And dressed right down to my Cats before I left the bathroom. I threw my duffle onto my bed and started packing the things I'd need for my date with Bobby tonight. Ranger leaned in the doorway, watching as I chose sexy undies and thigh highs to add to the pile. I hung my dress on the back of the closet door and took out the FMPs to go with it.

"Beautiful dress, Babe. It's the same color as your eyes. Bobby is a lucky man."

"Well, thank you, Ranger, that's a lovely compliment."

"So, when are you going to go out with me?"

I stopped my packing and turned to him, hands on my hips. "Excuse me. I don't recall you ever asking me out on a date." I folded my arms over my chest. "My Mom warned me about boys like you. She told me that you'd just try to get into my panties and then leave."

"Yeah. But think about how good that would feel." He grinned at me.

"True. But I think about how bad the next morning would feel. Been there, done that, not doing it again." I turned back to my duffle.

"Maybe someday we'll both be on the same page, Babe."

I looked down at the tiny lace panties I was holding, and shook my head. "It wouldn't matter. Being on the same page at the same time only works if you both want the same thing. We don't. You're a guy who wants an arrangement, casual, no strings, walk away at any time. I'm a girl who needs a commitment, who's got strings hanging all over her, would die if you walked away again, and can't do casual because there's nothing casual about the way I feel about you." I swiped at the tears I realized were on my cheeks and wiped my hands on my butt.

"Oh wow, I haven't been to confession in years. Sorry, I don't know what's the matter with me, spilling my guts like that. We gotta stop having these talks in my bedroom. I haven't cried this much in my room since I was sixteen." I couldn't look at him, just turned back to my duffle bag.

He moved across the room and gathered me into his arms, not saying a word. He just held me close and rested his cheek on the top of my head. I held on to him like he was my life preserver. I loved this man, and all I wanted was for him to love me back. Right now I didn't think that would ever happen. For whatever reason, he wouldn't or couldn't love me. Maybe it was time for a decision. Maybe it was time for me to let go.

I pulled out of his arms and wiped my eyes one last time. "Okay, making a fool out of myself here. What did Ella bring for breakfast?" Not that I thought I could swallow anything with the lump that was in my throat.

We pretty much ate the breakfast that Ella had brought us in silence, and cleaned up the kitchen the same way. I collected my things and we drove to the office together, each lost in our own thoughts.

I was in my cubicle, finishing up a couple of searches when my phone rang. It was Haver, who wanted to go over my deposition testimony with me and discuss last night's discovery about Karvic. He was waiting in the conference room and wanted to get started right away.

I walked into the room to find that Ranger and most of the Merry Men were already there. Every chair was filled, there wasn't even a seat left for me. He had obviously filled in Haver and the rest of the team on what I had seen last night. Apparently, they had all discussed the whole situation in great detail without my even being there.

I looked around at all of them getting angrier by the second. They were all so busy arguing back and forth across the table about what I should do, that they didn't even realize that I was in the room. Tank sat tipped back in his chair with his hands folded over his stomach. He looked at me and shrugged, shaking his head. He mouthed the words, "Sorry, Bombshell."

There was a sheet of paper laying on the floor in front of me and I automatically picked it up intending to throw it away. Something caught my eye and I glanced at it. I'm sure my eyes bugged right out of my head! It was a memo, from Ranger to everybody at RangeMan, calling this meeting. The purpose? To 'handle' Stephanie. It listed every RangeMan employee except one . . . Me!

Ranger finally looked up and noticed me. "We'll be with you in a minute, Babe, and let you know how we decided you should handle this." Well, so much for being part of the team. I waited about a minute and a half before I made my decision, turned on my heel and left the room.

Tank's POV:

They argued back and forth for well over an hour. Do they let Steph pursue the formal complaint against Karvic, or insist that she drop it for her own safety? I already knew how this would go over with her. Telling Steph to do anything just raised her hackles and made her dig in her heels. The fact that Haver and Carlos thought that she would 'follow orders' just proved to me how clueless they were about her. They didn't even include her in the discussions or the decision making process, but they'd included the rest of the team. That sends some message! I tried to tell them, but they just ignored me, too.

"Okay, Babe," that was Ranger. "We've come to a decision. Babe?" He finally looked around. "Where did she go? She was here a minute ago!"

"It was more like two hours ago, Ranger." It wasn't like him to miss the little things, like a whole person.

"I thought that she came in and sat down." He was still looking around for her.

"Hey man, there wasn't even a chair for her. Where'd you think she was gonna sit, on the floor?"

"Shit! How long ago did she leave?"

"About a minute after you started to ignore her." Lester offered.

"I'll go get her." I pushed myself out of the chair and made my way to her cubicle. As I passed the Comm Room I glanced at Hal, who looked furious, and Junior, who looked like he wanted to explode. I stuck my head in the door.

"Something wrong, guys?" They were both clearly angry.

"Oh yeah! You could say that."

"What the hell's going on?"

"You better go check on Steph." They looked at each other, but neither of them would look at me.

I left the Comm Room and went to Steph's cubicle and stopped dead before I even got to the doorway. There on her desk, stacked neatly, were her uniform, her ID, her phone, her Sig, and her keys. On top of the pile was the memo, with two words written on it, 'I quit!' and her signature.

Fuck!

I picked up the pile, clothes and all, took it back to the conference room and laid it on the table in front of Carlos. Silence descended on the room as realization set in.

"Tell the Comm Center to start tracking her vehicle and report back immediately."

"No can do, Carlos." I reached into the pile and pulled out the keys, tossing them to him.

"Well tell them to activate the tracer on her phone an . . . " I handed him her phone. He gripped it so hard, his knuckles turned white. He fired the phone across the room, shattering it against the far wall.

"Very mature! Okay everybody out! Haver, guys, I need to have a little chat with Carlos, if you don't mind. See if you can find out when she left and who picked her up. Check all the usual places and check for activity on her credit cards, she's gonna need a new phone and wheels. And check her apartment. See if the rat is still there."

Everyone quickly left the room, focused on finding Stephanie.

"You fucked up good, my friend, and you have to fix it." Carlos paced the room, clinching and unclinching his fists. "You wouldn't treat me or any of the guys that way. You expect her to act like a member of this team, which she does in spades. When are you gonna start treating her like one? If you don't, you lose her. And let me tell you, if you lose her, you lose part of the glue that holds RangeMan together. You let her go, everybody will blame you. The whole dynamic will change and it'll never be the same again."

"By the way, nice hickey, Carlos." His hand automatically went to his neck, touching the spot. "She isn't entertainment, you know. Although that's what she thinks she is, thanks to you. She didn't have any faith in herself or her abilities for so long. And you happily blamed it all on the cop. She busted her ass to improve her skills, just to please you. She wanted to prove that she was worthy of the faith you had in her. And now that she's every bit as good as anybody else at RangeMan, you're the one cutting her off at the knees, making her doubt herself. Good job man! You better pray she didn't go do something stupid, cause if anything happens to her, you'll never forgive yourself and neither will anybody else."

Carlos didn't say anything, but I knew he was chewing over what I had said. He just kept pacing and muttering in Spanish, getting angrier by the minute. I could only hope that he was mad at his own stupidity!

He finally looked at me, concern written all over his face. "Tank, we gotta find her. What if she decided to go after Karvic by herself? She's in over her head with that crowd. She'll get herself killed."

There was a single knock on the door and it was thrown open. It was Lester, grim faced.. "We found her! But you better hurry, Man, before it's too late!"

TBC ...

Thanks to everybody who read and reviewed. Ranger promises to visit everyone who reviews this chapter, so...


	16. Like Shooting Fish In A Barrel!

Disclaimer: Any characters that you recognize belong to Janet Evanovich, including Ranger, darn it! Any that are new are figments of my imagination, except one who's real and you all know who she is.

Warnings: Spoilers for all 12 books, language, sex, drugs, rock and roll, bad writing, you name it, you've been warned.

A/N: A special thanks to all those who read and reviewed. I hope you enjoyed your visit with Ranger. He loves to read the reviews while he sits in Starbucks. Thanks to my Technical Advisor for her advice on weapons and the tactical aspects of this chapter. You know who you are and so will everybody else shortly.

As The Worm Turns!

Chapter 16: Like Shoot Fish In A Barrel!

After I stomped out of the conference room, I called Lula and asked her to come pick me up. Then I went to my cubicle to retrieve my duffle bag. With all the guys busy, the restroom would be all mine. I pulled out the extra set of clothes I had packed and quickly changed.

I neatly folded my uniform, carried it back to the cubicle and laid it on my desk. I added my RangeMan ID, the Sig, the cell phone, and the keys. I'd return the rest of the stuff later. I took the friggin' Memo and scribbled, "I quit!" and signed it. I left it on top of the pile like the cherry on top of a sundae. The keys were the hardest to leave and I don't mean the ones for the car. I wrote a note to Bobby. I had really been looking forward to going dancing with him. Maybe I should wait until tomorrow to quit? Nah, if I don't do it now, I'll chicken out.

I emptied all my personal junk from my desk into my bag. Hairspray, tampons, mascara, TastyKakes. All the stuff that I had up in Ranger's apartment he'd just have to deal with himself. I couldn't go up there again. I took the note for Bobby and went into the Comm Room to ask one of the guys to give it to him. They looked at me in surprise, probably because I was out of uniform this early in the morning.

"Hey Bomber, what's going on?" Junior gave me one of his devastating smiles.

"Not much, Junior. How's it going Hal? Look, I need a favor. Would one of you give this to Bobby for me?" I held out the envelope.

Hal took it from my hand. "So what's going on with the meeting? We got the memo about it, but couldn't make it because we're assigned here today."

"Don't really know Hal. I was only invited in so they could tell me what THEY decided I should do. Apparently MY TEAM doesn't feel that my presence is necessary for that. Take a look at that Memo. Everybody in the whole building was invited to that meeting, except me. That speaks volumes, guys. So, I'm outta here. Thanks for everything, I'll miss you. Say good bye to everybody for me. Tell 'em I love 'em all." I turned to leave before I started to cry. I HATE it that I cry when I'm mad. "Oh, and don't go tell 'em I left. See how long it takes for Ranger to realize I'm not here." I blew them a kiss and sailed into the elevator.

And just like that, I was gone. Lula dropped me at the car rental agency where I got a nifty little red sports car. Then I took myself to the cell phone store and got a flip phone, in yellow. No more black for this girl! By then the anger had worn off and sadness and disappointment had taken its place. I pretty much drove down Hamilton on automatic pilot. I pulled into the parking lot behind the Bonds Office, leaned my head against the steering wheel and let myself cry.

An hour later I was sitting in the office, waiting for Lula to get back with lunch. I had filled in both Connie and Lula on everything that had happened this morning at RangeMan while Connie did my nails.

"Well, that explains all the phone calls and stuff!" Connie stated with a snort.

"What do you mean?" I waved my hands around, trying to get the polish to dry.

"Jeez Steph! The phone rang off the hook! I got calls every 2 minutes from the guys at RangeMan looking for you. They were even doing drive-bys. They blanketed Trenton trying to find you. You really scared them. They even got the cops to issue a Missing Person's Report."

"Oh my God, Connie! I had no idea. I wasn't hiding. I was right out in the open, running around, doing stuff."

"I made a snide remark to Cal about them misplacing you, and he got pissed and hung up on me! Now I get it. They really did lose you!"

"Yup! They were all in on it. I can't get over the fact that they could all be that stupid at the same time. You'd think they'd take turns or something! Men, yeesh!"

The office phone rang and Connie looked at the caller ID, grinned, and chirped, "Guess who?"

"I don't want to talk to any of them, Connie. I need to make a clean break." I shook my head and rolled my eyes.

"Vincent Plum, Bail Bonds. Hi, Hal. Yes, she's here and no, she doesn't want to talk to any of you. No, Hal. She'd hurt me worse that you would. Buh-bye!" Connie gave me a wink. Sisterhood was a wonderful thing!

I wanted my friends to hear the truth from me, before the 'Burg rumor mill got hold of it, chewed it up and spit it out as a totally unrecognizable piece of gossip. I had even stopped by Mary Lou's, filling her in. I only had one more stop after this. My parent's house, and I really wasn't looking forward to that. Maybe I'd wait until dinner on Sunday. Yeah, that sounded like a plan.

What I really wanted was to get out of town, but thanks to my current financial situation, that wasn't a possibility. I wished I could get far enough away that I wouldn't be looking for Ranger around every corner and at every traffic light. I didn't like the idea of running away, but if I was ever gonna cut the ties to him, I had to put some distance between us. I was gonna have to try to run away right here in Trenton. Somehow, I didn't think that was gonna work real well.

Lula came back from Cluck in a Bucket, yelling about cops and RangeMen following her around looking for me. She brought lunch for the three of us but from the amount of food there, it would have fed 8 people, easy. Connie had cleared off her desk so that we could sit around it, and I had pulled up folding chairs. Lula was unpacking the food and already had a piece of chicken stuck in her mouth when she froze. She mumbled, "Holy shit!" around the chicken leg. Connie looked over my shoulder and her mouth dropped open.

I turned toward the window and watched as, one after another, six black SUVs came screeching up in front of the Bonds Office. The doors flew open and a small army of men dressed in black bailed out and made for the office. "What the hell!"

The front door burst open and Bobby and Lester came straight over to the desk where I was sitting and stood between me and the window. They were followed by Cal, Ram, Woody, Hal, and Junior. Connie, Lula and I were wide eyed at the action and jumped as the back door slammed opened and Tank, Slick, Vince, Zero, and Haver came barreling in!

All the guys were dressed in combat gear, long sleeved black shirts, cargo pants, gloves, and paratrooper boots. They all wore Kevlar tactical vests and carried side arms and automatic weapons. Each of them wore an earpiece and microphone combo. It was surreal. They all looked like they had stepped off a movie set.

Nobody spoke. Tank used hand signals to point to men and where he wanted them to go. Vince and Bobby took off out the door and, seconds later, appeared on the roof of the deli across the street. They had binoculars and rifles and were scanning the neighborhood. Slick stood inside the front door, rifle at the ready. Junior went to the back door. They all moved with military precision, and were completely silent.

I thought it was a joke, something cooked up to get me to come back to RangeMan. "What the hell is going on, Tank? This looks like an invasion. Don't tell me this is all for my benefit? If you're shipping me off to some Third Wor ... "

Tank squatted down in front of me and put a gloved finger on my mouth to quiet me. He looked into my eyes and I saw something in his face that told me this was dead serious. My voice just died in my throat. He gave me a single nod and gave my shoulder a little squeeze. He stood, looked around and hauled me out of my chair, dragging me in back of the file cabinets.

Ram slipped the Kevlar body armor over my head and strapped me into it while Hal fitted an earpiece and mic combo onto my ear. Lester took Connie and Lula into Vinnie's office and spoke to them in low tones, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. Tank checked the vest and then he, Hal, and Ram, circled me, turned their backs and literally shielded me with their bodies.

I felt like I had stepped into the Twilight Zone. There was a sudden crackle in my ear, then, "Babe? If you can hear me, don't speak just tap on the mic once." I tapped. "Are you alright?" Another tap. "I'm at the TPD, but I'm on my way to meet you now. I want you safe as soon as possible. I'm asking you to trust me. Will you?" I hesitated a second. Tap. "The guys are gonna bring an SUV to the back door. You know what you have to do. I'll catch up and be right behind you. I need you to stay in the vehicle until I come to get you out. Will you do that for me? Please Babe." Tap.

I knew the drill. RangeMan had been hired to protect and transport a material witness during a well publicized Federal drug trafficking trial. I had been in on it since the witness was a woman. She laid in the back of the SUV and was covered with a protective shield and me. Ranger thought she'd be more comfortable with me on top of her, instead of one of the Merry Men. Not a hardship as far as I was concerned, but then, I knew them all.

So, yeah, I knew the drill. I would get into the back of the SUV and lay face down on the floor as close to the rear seat as I could get. I'd cover my head with my arms and protect my eyes from flying glass. The guys would cover me with a Kevlar blanket, and one of them would literally lay on top of me, to take a bullet, if necessary.

All my anger and disappointment over the meeting had disappeared. Five minutes ago I never wanted to see any of these guys again. Now it looked like my life depended on them, and I was grateful that they were here. Since the shock of the invasion was wearing off, fear was setting in, and I hated not knowing what was going on.

I could hear the SUV screech into the parking lot behind Vinnie's. Tank and Cal looked at each other and nodded. Ram put an arm around my waist. I was ready. We'd be headed out the door into the SUV fast, no stopping, no thinking, just out.

On his signal, Tank and Cal took off with Ram and me right behind. We went through Vinnie's office and out the door and to the SUV. Ram picked me up and tossed me in the back and climbed in. Cal slammed the doors and we took off. I crawled to the seat and Ram wrapped me in the Kevlar blanket and his own body. I could feel us hurtling out of the parking lot and into the street.

I assumed we were going to RangeMan on Haywood. It was the most secure location. I already knew that there would be spotters on the roof and black SUVs blocking both ends of the street. The gates would be opened manually before we got there so that we wouldn't even have to slow down to get into the underground garage. The SUV would be backed up to the elevator and I'd be taken right upstairs. This was standard operating procedure for this type of operation. I'd seen it a dozen times.

I knew we were going the long way round by all the turns we were making. Ram's hand snaked under the Kevlar blanket and he put it on my arm. His fingers drifted back and forth gently, trying to comfort me. He knew what I was feeling. Kevlar doesn't breath. It was hot and I was sweating under the vest, blanket, and Ram. He lifted the edge of the blanket so I'd get some air, but I was already soaking wet and was having trouble breathing. I felt dizzy and a little faint.

We made a right, a sharp left and a sharper right and I felt us roar down the ramp into the parking garage. The squealing of tires told me that we were part of a caravan. Our SUV made a quick right and then got thrown into reverse and we came to a screeching halt.

The back doors were pulled open and Ranger half dragged, half lifted me out of the SUV. My legs wouldn't hold me so he and Ram, with guns drawn, sandwiched me between themselves. With Tank as the third part of the triangle, they backed me into the elevator and went up to the 5th floor, Ranger supporting me all the way. We left Hal and Hector on guard in the garage. Cal and Tank were out on the street.

By the time the doors pinged open, the guns had been holstered and my body armor had been peeled off. My hair and clothes were plastered to me, and I'm sure I looked like I had been hosed down. I was leaning against Ranger and looked from face to face but none of them met my eyes.

"Okay. Which one of you is gonna tell me what's going on?" I asked weakly. No one looked at me or made any comment. Ranger tightened his arm around my waist and Tank took my hand. They ushered me into Ranger's office where I was laid on the couch and handed a bottle of cold water that I chugged. Tank brought me a wet towel to wipe my face. Ram stood outside, guarding the door.

"What the hell is going on? Will one of you please tell me what happened! You hunted me down, scared the crap outta me, went on a rescue mission worthy of a government invasion, and now you won't tell me what's going on? Guys, please?" With each statement my voice rose another notch.

By now, every nerve ending I owned felt like it was outside my skin and I was on the verge of hysteria. I jumped off the couch and made for the door. God damn it! If they weren't going to tell me, then I'd find somebody who would. Ranger grabbed me around the waist before I got two steps. I tried to fight away from his grasp, but he folded his arms around me and held me to his chest.

"Please tell me! I need to know ... now!" My hands were in fists and I was shaking. He put his lips against my forehead for a second, then leaned back to look down at me, brushing my damp hair out of my face.

"You're right, Babe." Ranger sat me down in a chair and took a manila envelope from his desk. "This was delivered at 6am this morning. I was with you so I didn't see it until we got to the office. I decided not to tell you about it until we did some investigating, and that's why I called that meeting." I opened my mouth to blast him, but he held up his hand. "I know that I handled it all wrong. But can we put that aside until we settle this matter?" He indicated the envelope.

I held out my hand for it and, almost reluctantly, he gave it to me. I opened the envelope and slid out an 8X10 photo. It was a close up of me taken as I walked into the police station the other day. I had on the black leather suit and red turtle neck. My hair looked sensational and my makeup was perfect. All in all is was an excellent photo of me. Well, except for the bloody bullet hole painted right in the middle of my forehead.

I studied the photo carefully then looked back at Ranger and Tank. "Well, I'd say that it wasn't a candid shot. From the angle, it probably came from the security cams set up over the door. That means whoever sent this, had the opportunity and the knowledge to access those tapes. The paper is standard Kodak, you can get it anyplace. This could have been printed off on almost any computer in the world without leaving a trail. Any prints or DNA evidence on the envelope or stamp?"

Tank looked at Ranger. "Bombshell knows her shit, Carlos." Ranger gave him a nod of agreement. I just raised an eyebrow over the exchange and Ranger looked at me. "You and I have a lot to talk about later on, Babe."

I watched both of them closely. "This picture didn't warrant a level of threat response that would send you into lockdown mode or the extraction mission to get me back here. You're not just bleeding money here, you're hemorrhaging. Am I right in thinking that there's something else you're not telling me?" Tank and Ranger looked at each other. They communicated by that damned RangeMan ESP. A decision was made without either of them speaking or moving. The expression he wore told me that Ranger was fighting an emotion he normally didn't have to deal with. It ramped up my fear level, and I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach.

A grim faced Ranger took my hand and led me around to the other side of his desk. He swiveled the desk chair for me to sit in. Leaning over me, he opened his laptop and tapped a key. A picture bloomed on the screen. It was me walking out of the RangeMan building. Click. The shot changed. Me at the car rental place. It clicked again. Me walking into the cell phone store. Click. Me driving out of the lot. Click, me stopped at a light, click, pulling in at Vinnie's, click, sitting in the car ... the crosshairs of a sniper scope superimposed over the back of my head. And finally, me, my head leaning on the steering wheel. I looked like I was dead.

The whole series of photos was on a loop that played over and over.

Those little black dots that I had been fighting won and were dancing across the room. I shoved the chair back from the desk and put my head between my knees, gulping in air. Ranger leaned over me, rubbing my back until I was able to stand up and walk on my own.

I wrapped my arms around myself and started to pace the office. "When did that show up." I nodded back to the screen.

Tank came over to me and took my hand. "Almost the exact moment we discovered you were gone. It popped up on every computer in the building." He shook his head. "Whoever is responsible was able to hack past all of our safeguards. They were actually able to breech RangeMan's own security systems."

I understood very well what that could mean for a security business. How can you sell safety and security to anybody, when you can't keep yourself safe and secure? If word of this leaked out, it could easily ruin the company. Everything that Ranger and Tank and all of the guys had worked so hard to build could all be gone in a heartbeat.

"But Bombshell, nobody thought about that. Everybody focused on the goal, finding you. Nobody let themselves believe that photo loop. Every man volunteered for that operation and not one of us will accept pay for it. Maybe we never showed you, but you're the glue that holds this team together. Don't you ever doubt that."

Big, fat tears started to slide down my cheeks. I swiped at them, but couldn't stop them. I was tapped out, physically and emotionally.

"Come on Steph. Let's get you cleaned up. You'll feel better." I was suddenly more tired than I had ever been in my life. Turning to Tank, I put my arms around him and squeezed. "Thank you, my friend." I whispered to his chest as he hugged me. "My pleasure, Bombshell." Was his reply. He kissed me on the top of my head and opened the door for me.

Ranger and Tank were needed on the floor, so I went up to the apartment with Ram as my bodyguard. He had his arm draped around my shoulders as we waited for the elevator. He looked down at me and smiled and gave me a squeeze. I just leaned my head against him and closed my eyes.

Ram stood guard outside the locked bedroom door while I went straight to the bathroom and took a long, hot shower. Wrapping myself in Ranger's fluffy robe, I went back into the bedroom. One of these days I needed to get one of these robes for myself. I thought I'd just sit on the bed for a few minutes. Well, maybe I'd just put my head down on the pillow. Oh, it felt so good to finally let my body relax. Ummmmm, the pillow smells faintly of Bvlgari. Bvlgari and Ranger...

I woke up to Ranger saying my name softly and playing with my hair. I was still on his bed and he was laying beside me, facing me. "Hungry, Babe? You missed out on lunch. Ella's bringing up dinner any minute." I rolled over onto my back and stretched. I turned my head to look at him. I noticed that he was still completely dressed, a pity really, since I was only wearing his robe. Dangerous thoughts Stephanie! Better get them out of your head, and get your ass out of his bed!

Ranger got up and came around the bed. He took my hand and drew me over to the other side of the room. He indicated that I should sit in one of the big leather chairs while he dragged the other over in front of me. He sat down and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, folding his hands loosely and I tucked my feet up under me. This setting was familiar, we had done this before.

Ranger cleared his throat. "A little while ago, a very good friend and coworker told me that an apology generally requires an expression of regret and an admission of fault. Neither of which I voiced when making an apology. She said that words like 'I'm sorry' or 'I was wrong' or 'forgive me' are essential to an apology. For instance, I might have said, 'I'm sorry that I treated you like a two bit, street corner whore.' or 'I was wrong to let you sit in jail overnight because I was in a pissy mood." or 'Will you forgive me for being such a arrogant, hard headed, disrespectful shithead who had no right to treat my employee and friend so badly that she felt it necessary to resort to violence?'"

I had to smile to myself; he was quoting me word for word. I guess he really had paid attention to what I said. He reached over and took my hand in his.

"Babe, I'm a problem solver. I do what I think is necessary and best for the situation. It wasn't my intention to hurt you, but I did. This time, I took it too far and I'm asking you to forgive me."

"As for the meeting." Ranger started. He looked at me, and I nodded, giving my okay for him to continue. "I sent the memo in hopes that we could get all the information gathered before I had to show you the picture, but that doesn't excuse the action. Since this concerned you, AND as a member of this team, I should have involved you from the get go. Babe, I can only give you my word that it will never happen again."

I looked into his eyes and could see how serious he was. A Ranger apology was different from one given my any other male of the species. He stated the problem, and he stated the resolution. As a man of few words, Ranger didn't say anything he didn't mean. I knew his apology was sincere, and his word was his bond.

"I'll accept your apology, but let me give you MY word. I'll never allow you or anyone else at RangeMan to treat me like less than a full member of this team. If I'm ever treated like the token female, or the team mascot, or the entertainment line item in your budget again, I'm gone and there'll be no coming back."

Ranger studied me, assessing what I had said. I held out my hand to him, and he took it.

"Agreed?"

"Agreed." And just like that, our 'on the job' differences were settled once and for all. Too bad our personal problems weren't that simple to work out.

"That said, I'd like to schedule another meeting with the whole team for 8am tomorrow. I called Silvio in Miami and he's going to do some creative investigation into that photo loop. Whoever it was obviously has an agenda. The obvious threat is against you. The secondary threat is against RangeMan, me."

I pulled up my knees and wrapped my arms around my legs. "So it looks like the same person who sent the picture, hacked into the RangeMan computers? And that person has something against both of us. Gee, let me think." I tapped my nail against my teeth. "Karvic comes to mind."

Ranger smiled at me. "Smartass! It would seem likely; we'll have to look into him, of course. But we can't just focus on Karvic, just in case. By the way, you had two phone calls while you were napping. First Silvio and then Randy Briggs. They both want you to call them back. They sent the information you wanted to your RangeMan computer."

"Well crap, Ranger! I don't suppose you'd let me run down there dressed like this, would you?" I jumped out of the chair and knotted the huge robe tighter.

He grinned at me. "Only if I want to have to shoot most of my employees. You'd start a riot dressed like that."

"Why? I'm covered from neck to toes. I look like a nun!"

He groaned. "Babe, everybody would know exactly what you're wearing under that robe. Plus, testosterone levels are running high. Every one of those guys is gonna be looking to get laid tonight."

I just gaped at him. "Excuse me?"

"It's the nature of battle. It's the celebration of life, the high from coming back alive. And more importantly, the high from bringing YOU back alive." Ranger eyes darkened as he looked at me.

"Oh! Do ... um ... you feel that way too?" My voice sounded very small and I swallowed hard.

Ranger reached out and took hold of the knot on the robe's belt and pulled me into his lap. Lifting my legs over the arm of the chair, he wrapped me tightly in his arms. He cupped my face in his hand and buried his face in my hair. "I told you that I'd never do anything non-consensual. And I won't. But you're a temptation, Babe. You're my temptation."

He pressed his lips against my mouth, hard and hungry. My hand wound its way into his hair and I pulled his mouth against mine harder. When he ran his tongue along the seam of my lips and I opened them, our tongues danced together, stroking, caressing. I sucked on his tongue and he groaned into my mouth. We broke apart, breathless. I was arched back over his arm while he rained kisses over my face, down my jaw and throat. His hand slipped under the robe pushing it off my shoulder and down my arm. His mouth followed the trail of his hand and a shiver coursed through my body.

I felt the curl of desire snake in my belly as his hand made its way to my breast, skimming his palm over my nipple, cupping and kneading it. I gave myself over to the sensations when his mouth found that sweet spot where my neck met my shoulder and he marked me in the same place I had left my mark on him.

I was lost in him and what he was doing to my body. I could feel him grow and harden under my hip and I struggled to sit up and straddle him. Our kisses became more frantic and I needed to touch his skin. He pushed the other side of the robe off my shoulder and pulled my arms out. Pulling me to him, his mouth found my breast and I know I whimpered as he sucked my nipple between his lips. My hands were fisted into his hair, holding him to me, my head thrown back. I was almost panting by the time he trailed kisses from one breast to the other and sucked and nipped it also.

He stood, lifting me with him. I wrapped my legs around his waist, my arms around his neck, his hot mouth on my breast. Carrying me to the bed he laid me in the middle and stood back to strip off his shirt and kick off his boots. And then he was on his knees, over me. He ran his hand from my waist over my breasts to my neck, over my face and he fisted it into my hair. His mouth followed and he laid kisses on my ribs, the underside of my breasts, across my collarbones and up my throat. His mouth descended on mine, hungry and demanding. We devoured each other, and poured all of our lust and need into that kiss.

I couldn't touch enough of him, the feel of his skin against mine was intoxicating and I was drunk with the power of making him lose his precious control. My need for him was so great that I was trembling, my breath coming in sobs. I knew that I was just one touch away from an earth shattering orgasm.

My hands found him and stroked him through his cargos. He threw his head back and growled deep in his chest. Bringing his black eyes down to meet mine, he pulled my hand away, "Not yet, Babe. I have other plans." His fingers worked the knot in the belt and I attacked the button of his cargos. His breath was coming in ragged pants and he leaned down and took my mouth in a searing kiss.

We were jolted back to reality by a single thump on the bedroom door. As it flew open, Ranger turned me away and covered my nakedness with his body.

Tank's voice boomed out, "Hey man, you're not answering your phone and we have a situation in th ... ooops! Sorry." Tank retreated from the room. "Sorry Bombshell, I didn't realize you were in there. Carlos, we have a new development and need you in the Comm Room stat!"

Ranger leaned his forehead leaned against the back of my head. "I'll be down in a minute, Tank." His voice was rough.

"Okay Man, hurry up!" We could hear the laughter in his voice as he went to the front door.

Ranger laid down on his back, beside me. I had curled myself into a ball, my arms crossed over my chest, covering myself. I couldn't stop the tears that slid down my cheeks. We lay there for a long minute, trying to regain our control.

"I'm sorry, Steph, I shouldn't have let that happen." He kissed my shoulder and pulled the robe back up to cover me. "I always seem to lose control where you're concerned."

I just nodded and tried to keep my face hidden from him. I didn't want him to see my tears. I don't know if I was embarrassed or ashamed or frustrated.

Standing, he quickly dressed, then sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over me. He pushed my hair away from my face and saw my tears. He gently turned me over and wiped the tears away with his thumb. More leaked out and he smiled gently at me and dried them with the end of the robe's belt.

He gently pressed his lips softly against my eyes and mouth. "You could kill a man, Babe." He shook his head slightly, as if to clear it, and he sat up.

"Your clothes are in the bathroom. Ella brought them back while you were sleeping." He continued to play with my hair. "While you get dressed, I'll go down and see what's going on in the Comm Room and I'll retrieve that information from your computer. Ella should be up with dinner soon." He kissed me softly on the lips, and left.

I lay there another few minutes then dragged myself off the bed and into the bathroom. I dressed quickly and tried to tame the beast that I call hair, to no avail. By the time I walked out of the bedroom, Ella was in the dining room, setting the table. She looked up as I walked in.

"Well?" She immediately came to me and took my hands in hers.

"Oh Ella, that was a close call. I'm running out of self control where that man is concerned. If Tank hadn't knocked on the door just when he did, I would have all been over but the Hallelujah Chorus! How did you know to send him?"

Ella flushed a pretty pink. "Well dear, I brought dinner up and no one was here. I ... listened at the bedroom door. You ... um ... are not exactly quiet, are you?" She looked at me with raised eyebrows.

It was my turn to blush. I'm sure I was bright red! I slapped my hands over my face in embarrassment.

Ella snickered. "I'm surprised that you have lasted this long! I certainly admire your fortitude. Ricardo reminds me of Luis at that age and, oh, what that man could do to me! And still does!" She smiled and shook her head at the thought.

"My Dad always said that anything worth having is worth fighting for, but I really don't know how many more rounds I can take." I fanned myself.

"Well dear, the whole idea was to make it hard on him, no pun intended!" She giggled at her own joke.

"Ella!" I squealed and she just rolled her eyes.

We heard the elevator doors ping open and Ella shoved me back toward the bedroom. No need in letting Ranger know how close Ella and I really were.

I waited a few minutes and came out of the bedroom to find Ranger and Ella talking in the dining room. As soon as she saw me, Ella threw her arms open wide and came over to greet me ... again.

"Stephanie, my dear, it is so good to see you. I heard about all of the excitement. Are you all right?" Ella gathered me into her arms and hugged me tightly. I will never underestimate Ella's acting abilities.

"Yeah, Ella, I'll be fine now, thanks to you. I'm starving and whatever you made for dinner smells heavenly." My stomach growled loudly at that point, proving me right.

Ella blushed modestly and hugged me. "If I can do anything else for you, dear, anything at all, you know that you can call me for help at any time." She smiled and gave me a wink, and left. My co-conspirator. Military men just can't compete with women on a mission!

Ella obviously had her own agenda. The dining room table was set right down to the candles and flowers. I looked at Ranger and he just shrugged and smiled. He came around the table and pulled out my chair and seated me. He poured wine for us, raised his glass in a silent toast and when our glasses touched, the crystal sang.

Ella had outdone herself. Grilled chicken, roasted vegetables, creamy orzo; the food was delicious and if I hadn't been minding my manners, I probably would have licked the plate clean. Ella had brought dessert for us, cheesecake with sliced strawberries for me and fruit for Ranger. While we ate, we each read one of the files he got from my computer, and then exchanged them.

We took our wine and the files and went to sit on the couch. Both Silvio and Randy Briggs had come up with the same information. Whoever had cleansed Karvic's record had done so from inside the Trenton Police Department. They had hacked into the system before Karvic was hired here, so he had been offered a position based on the doctored histories. Obviously, Karvic had an accomplice. But who?

Ranger took the file and tossed it onto the coffee table. "Well, it looks more and more like this is all revenge for our complaints against Karvic. Your spidey sense was right once again. We'll put this together with what the rest of the team has come up with and go from there. We should be able to work out a plan of action at tomorrow's meeting."

"Listen, if everybody's going out to get themselves laid, maybe you ought to reschedule for 10 AM instead of 8?" I raised my eyebrows at him.

He smiled and shook his head. "Babe, we're under lock down here. Nobody's going anyplace until this is all settled."

"You mean I don't get to go home? What about clothes, what about Rex?"

"I sent someone over to collect some things for you. Rex included."

"You mean they're gonna storm my apartment building and scare all those old people to death?"

"No Steph, they're going to use a wire to slide over from the building across the street and rappel down the side of your building. They'll be in and out and nobody will be any the wiser."

I snorted. "So which Merry Man gets the honor of pawing through my underwear?"

"Oh, don't worry. Ella went with them."

"Ella's gonna rappel down the side of a building? Just for my underwear?" I was gobsmacked!

He laughed full out. "Oh Babe, you're so easy!"

"WHAT?" I screeched! "What did you call me?" I beat on him with a throw pillow.

"NO, no no, that's not what I meant. I meant that you took me seriously. I was joking!"

I sat back on the couch, not sure what to think. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. "You never say things you don't mean. You don't have any sense of humor. Who are you and what have you done with Ranger?"

He gave me a full 200 watt-er and leaned toward me, extending his hand. Confused, I reached out and took it. "Allow my to introduce myself. Carlos Manoso, at your service." And he kissed the back of my hand.

Oh Boy!

TBC ...

You're making Ranger very happy with all your wonderful reviews. Please keep it up, we don't want to shake his self-confidence.


	17. Living In A Goldfish Bowl!

Disclaimer: All the characters that you recognize belong to Janet Evanovich. Those you don't recognize belong to me.

Warnings: All 12 books, language, sex, drugs, rock and roll, bad writing, you name it, you've been warned.

A/N: Ranger and I thank you for all your reviews. He reads himself to sleep every night with them. And we all know what he wears to sleep in, don't we? Special thanks to my Guardian Angel, MagnificentSin (Christie). All will be revealed about her in the next chapter. You're gonna be surprised!

As The Worm Turns!

Chapter 17: Living In A Goldfish Bowl!

"Excuse me? Carlos Manoso? We dealing with multiple personality disorder here?"

He smiled at me. "Sometimes it feels like it. Have you ever noticed that Tank, Bobby, Lester, and Haver call me Carlos, Ella and Luis call me Ricardo, and everybody else calls me Ranger."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Of course I've noticed. I just figured that everybody met you at a different point in your life. Whatever name they call you, was who you were then."

"Does that bother you?"

I thought about that for a minute. "I see how differently you act when you're with the guys, how relaxed you are. I notice that everybody clams up if I get close. I always feel like I'm an intruder, like I should back out of the room. That bothers me. I guess I wish I knew you the same way they do."

"You know me, Babe."

"No, actually I don't know much about you at all. I only know what you choose to tell me or what I can see. You're always, I don't know what word to use ... guarded, maybe? I really do understand your need for privacy and your total lack of small talk. If you never open your mouth, you can't give away any secrets. But I've learned to tip-toe around you. You've trained me not to ask questions."

Ranger raised his eyebrows fractionally. Ranger surprise. "I've trained you? How?"

"You betcha you trained me. On those rare occasions when I slipped and asked you a personal question, you ignored me. A few times you even slapped me down, so to speak. That blank face of yours slams into place, and I get the impression that you're assessing my motive for asking. That tells me you don't trust me. So yeah, you trained me not to invade your privacy."

"It's a necessity in my line of work. It's who I am, Babe."

"It's only part of who you are. Jeez Ranger. I took Psychology 101, too. I know a defense mechanism when I see one. It's one of the techniques you use to keep people at arm's length. Like the lemon meringue pie thing. You did that on purpose. You throw me a few crumbs every once in awhile, thinking that it'll pacify me. I accept that as a part of who you are. But please don't think for a minute that I don't know what you're doing."

"I didn't realize I was that transparent. It would seem that you know me better than you give yourself credit for. Or I do, for that matter."

I noticed how neatly he avoided the trust issue. And I wondered if he realized that he just admitted to playing games with me. Sure he did. Hmmmmm, so he wanted to play games, did he. Let's see how he liked being played with.

I sat back on the couch and studied him. "Okay Carlos. So, tell me about yourself."

He actually blanched and took in a hissing breath through clinched teeth.

"That's what I thought." I shook my head and reached for my wine glass, knocking back what was left in the bottom. I stood up and walked toward the kitchen. "Carlos has left the building!" I found the wine bottle in the kitchen and poured myself another glass, which I didn't exactly sip.

He had followed me and leaned against the kitchen doorway. "Old habits die hard, Steph."

"Yeah, yeah. And you can't teach an old dog new tricks, and a stitch in time saves nine. It's all lip service, Ranger, Carlos, whoever you are. And since Ranger is the only one of you I can recognize, I suggest you send him back. At least I'm used to his silent treatment. Carlos just frustrates the hell out of me!"

I headed back to the living room and the couch.

"Babe, I don't understand why what you DON'T know is so important to you. Isn't what you DO know enough?"

Enough for what, I thought. To get me on my back, in your bed? But I didn't say it outloud. "Will you humor me for 5 minutes? Just play along with a little social experiment?"

He looked at me suspiciously, but nodded his head. I jumped up off the couch and found my purse. Rummaging around in my big black bag, I pulled out a Cosmo and a pen and threw myself back on the couch. I leaned against the arm with my legs out straight and my ankles crossed. Ranger looked at the magazine and gave me a half smile and leaned back with his legs stretched out on either side of mine.

"A Cosmo Quiz, Babe? Just what is this going to prove?"

"You said you'd humor me! These little quizzes are actually very scientific. They're based on behavioral studies and compatibility statistics."

"Right! And I read Playboy for the articles."

"You read Playboy? See, I woulda never thought that you would be interested in a mag..."

"Babe! It's just an expression, like ... The check's in the mail. Come on, let's get this 'social experiment' over with."

"Okay. Now this is a quiz for lovers, but since we don't qualify, I'm just gonna say 'friend'. Question 1: What is your friend's favorite color?" I looked up at him.

"Well, it depends. For clothes, I'd say red. She says it's a power color. In general, yellow because it makes her feel happy."

"Very good! Question 2: As a child, what did your friend want to be?

"Oh, that's too easy! My friend," he put the emphasis on 'friend,' "wanted to be Wonder Woman."

I smiled at him. "Question 3: What is you friend's favorite food?"

He wrinkled his brow and thought for a minute. "That's a tough question. There are so many choices. MacDonald's, TastyKakes, donuts, Cheese Doodles, fettucini Alfredo. But if I had to pick one thing that she couldn't live without, I'd have to choose her ultimate comfort food, her mother's pineapple upside-down cake."

My eyebrows raised into my hairline. "Huh! I have to admit, I'm impressed, Manoso."

"Manoso?"

"Well, I'm not entirely sure who I'm sitting here with, Ranger or Carlos, and I'm kind of afraid to ask. Manoso just covers all the possibilities." He grinned at me.

I grinned back. "Question number 4: When and where did your friend meet her best friend?"

"She met Mary Lou Molnar Stankovic almost at birth. Her mother and Mary Lou's mother were friends. So the girls have been friends since day one."

"Question 5: Other than the job she currently has, what other jobs has your friend had?

"Let's see!" He leaned back and steepled his fingers, tapping his index fingers against his chin. She's been an amazingly successful bounty hunter, a lingerie buyer with an outstanding stash of sexy lingerie." He winked at me. "If what her Granny says is true. She worked for Mama Macaroni at Kan Klean Dry Cleaners. That job ended with a bang." I grimaced. "She worked at Cluck in a Bucket, and while not exactly management material, she was single handedly responsible for their new look. She almost worked at the Button Factory. And in high school, worked at Tasty Pastry. There were a large assortment of part time jobs and summer jobs. Shall I list them?"

"No, you did just fine, thank you very much." At least he didn't say anything about my Tasty Pastry reputation for great service. That was thanks to Morelli's big mouth!

Grabbing my ankles he pulled me toward him slightly. He took hold of my feet and started to massage them, one at a time. I thought I'd melt into a puddle all over that couch. Focus, Stephanie!

"Okay buster, I know you're very proud of yourself. Question 6: What is my ... um ... her favorite scent?"

"Well, again, that depends. Donuts or Bvlgari. Depends on what she's hungry for."

I narrowed my eyes at him and in response, he rubbed my foot harder. A moan escaped me and I sank down farther on the couch.

"Number 7 is: What is your friend's fantasy vacation? and stop that, you're just trying to distract me!"

He moved his hands up to my calves, rubbing the muscles firmly. My eyes almost crossed.

He gave me his wolf grin. "A beautiful tropical island, aquamarine water, private beaches with clothing optional, soft, warm breezes to caress your naked body. A devoted slave to massage suntan lotion into your silky skin and to make slow, sweet love to you all night under the full moon." I gave him a look. "Okay, so maybe that part's my fantasy, Babe." He got up on his hands and knees and started to crawl over me. I snapped back to reality and yelled, "Sit!" and he went back to his end of the couch, folded his arms over his chest and gave me a look that said I was ruining all his fun.

"Jeez Ranger, you have to stop turning yourself on! Okay, 8: What is your friend's favorite article of clothing?"

He snorted! "That's a toss up between a ratty, old, faded yellow bathrobe." He glanced at my face and immediately amended what he had said. "Excuse me, let me rephrase that. A well loved, and well worn, pale yellow robe. Better, Babe? Or, a black Navy Seals hat given to her by a mysterious admirer." He laughed, evidently pleased with himself.

"Oh come on, we're almost done! Question number 9: What is your friend's deepest fear?"

He answered immediately. "That she'll never get to fly." We sat, staring at each other, for a long minute. "What's the last question Babe?"

I hesitated. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. I took a deep breath. "Question 10: How many of these questions can your friend answer about you?"

I kept my eyes on the magazine and chewed my bottom lip. I guess I was afraid to see what was in his face. I hoped he wouldn't be too angry with me, but I didn't know how else to get the point across. He knew everything about me. My life was an open book. He knew all of the insignificant little things that individually meant nothing, but collectively told the story of who I was. They were the same things I wanted to know about him. Yet after three years, I still knew next to nothing. I wanted to know about the journey that had shaped him into the man he was.

I finally lifted my eyes to his. I expected his blank face or even anger. I was surprised when I saw him looking at me with warmth in his eyes. He wore his almost smile and I swear to God, I think he had read my mind.

"Point taken, Babe." He spoke so softly I almost missed it.

Reaching over, he took the magazine out of my hands and glanced at the page. He shook his head slightly, then tossed it on the coffee table. I'd been found out! There was no quiz, I had made it up. I didn't know what his reaction would be and I was surprised when he grasped my hands and pulled me off my end of the couch. He pulled me slowly up his body, so that we were face to face, our heads on the throw pillows.

"Ranger, this isn't a very good idea." Truer words were never spoken. I hadn't arranged an interruption and I was on my own here. I moved to sit up.

He held me closer, watching my face as he tucked my hair behind my ear and ran his fingers over my cheek. "Tell you what, just lay here with me. Let me hold you for a little while. I promise that I won't do anything to make you uncomfortable."

I narrowed my eyes at him. As far as I knew, he had never lied to me, but still ... I held up my hand with my little finger stuck out. "Pinkie swear?" His eyes widened and he tipped his head back and full out laughed. God, this man was beyond handsome, but when he laughed he could take your breath away. He had certainly stolen mine! He hooked my pinkie with his and we pulled. He was still chuckling, "Pinkie swear, Babe."

The sun had set and the room filled with shadows as it grew darker outside. I lay with my head on his shoulder and my hand over his heart. The steady beat assured me that God was in his heaven and all was right with the world. Even though there was yet another lunatic or two after us, I felt safe and secure and protected, and overwhelmingly sad. He would never know just how much he meant to me. I would never be able to tell him that I was in love with him; I would never share a life with him. I could share his bed, but nothing else.

A tear slipped down my face and fell on his neck before I could wipe it away. He immediately shifted our positions so that he could look down into my face. I closed my eyes and turned my head away.

He stroked my cheek and whispered, "Tell me."

I just shook my head. "Long day, Ranger." And I swiped at the tears and didn't look at him.

He took my hand and kissed the palm. "It was one of the worst days I've ever had, and one of the best days of my life." I turned my face back to him, the unasked question in my eyes. "I thought I lost you today. And then Hal called and said that they found you, alive ..." He ran his fingertips over my forehead and eyebrows, cheeks and lips. "Babe, we need to talk."

My heart stuttered in my chest. "About?" I could feel my heart rate rise.

"We need to talk about what we're going to do about us. I think that we ..." He stopped.

"We what? Ranger?" I watched as he sat up and pulled his phone off his hip and checked the caller ID.

"Yo!" He was all business.

"Shit! How bad? I'll be right there." He flipped the phone closed and picked up his boots. Our moment was gone. I fought the urge to scream!

He dialed another number. "Bobby, I want you up here with Steph. I don't want her alone for a minute. Immediately!" He was slipping on his boots while he talked and now sat to lace them.

My brain was screaming, 'Noooooooooooo'! "Ranger? What's going on? What were you going to say to me? You can't leave me hanging like this! This is like stopping just short of an orgasm." Oh crap! I can't believe I said that out loud! I knew that God would punish me for torturing Ranger; I just didn't think that the punishment would be the same kind of torture!

He gave me his wolf grin and bent to kiss me, hard. "I'd be happy to give you that orgasm any time you want. Except right now." He quickly got serious. "Three of the contract guys got shot a few minutes ago. Two are critical and one is treat and release. I've got to go and secure the location and handle the cops. Bobby will come up to keep you company and play body guard."

I followed him into the bedroom and stood in the doorway of the closet while he stripped off his shirt to put on his Kevlar. I automatically fastened the straps on one side while he did the other. Then he grabbed his utility belt and retrieved his arms from the gun safe. The Sig would go on his hip, the Glock at the small of his back and the Beretta in his boot. He looked me over.

"You aren't dressed. I want you armed at all times." He took out a Glock and a clip-on holster, checked to make sure it was loaded, chambered a round, and put it on my hip. He looked into my eyes for emphasis. "At all times." I nodded in response.

He pulled out a black long sleeved T-Shirt and a RangeMan windbreaker and dressed as he talked. "I have to go to the hospital and check on the men, and then I'll have to deal with the police and the owners of the jewelry store where the shooting took place. Babe, I have no idea how long this'll take, but I'll try to be back in time for the meeting tomorrow morning. The Feds are sending two agents to work with us because of the stolen guns. And there'll be a TPD representative. If I'm not back, Tank'll be in charge."

He took me by the shoulders and turned me to him. He looked over my head, like he was trying to decide something. He looked me right in the eyes. "Steph, I want your word that you won't leave RangeMan for any reason whatsoever. No matter what happens, I want your promise that you'll stay in the building."

I searched his face but it told me nothing. "Why?"

"Babe! Why do you have to question my motives?" He tightened his grip on my arms slightly.

"Because you keep secrets. You don't lie to me, but you stop short of full disclosure! Tell me everything, and then I'll give you my word."

There was exasperation in his face and voice. "We don't know who's making these threats against us. We don't know who the primary focus is. This whole shooting thing could be a lure to get me out of the building to blow my head off. Which in turn would get YOU out of the building, and then you would be dead too. You could be the main target all along. But until we know where the threat is coming from, and why, we all need to be on our guard. You don't live your life that way. I need to know that you're safe, so that I can do my job. Please, just do this for me."

"You really know how to push all my buttons, don't you? Alright, I give you my word. But if I find out that you're keeping secrets, all bets are off. Understood?"

He held up his hand. "I swear I'm telling you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me pinkie." I had to smile. He crooked his pinkie finger at me and I hooked mine with his and we pulled. He drew me against his chest and kissed me fast and hard. Then he walked out of the closet, stopped, and came back. Putting one hand on my waist and threading the fingers of his other hand into my hair, he backed me against the door and pressed his body into mine.

He bent his head to murmur in my ear, "Sleep in my bed tonight. I want to picture you there." Tipping my mouth up to his, he brushed his lips over mine, and then angled his head to deepen the kiss. We stood, our arms wrapped around each other, lost in the moment.

"Ranger!" Bobby's voice cut through the kiss. "Tank's waiting for you."

"Stay safe." I whispered the words into his neck. He kissed my forehead and was gone. By the time I walked out of the bedroom, he and Tank had already left the apartment.

Bobby strolled over to me, grinning hugely, and touched his thumb to my lips. "Looks like you've been thoroughly kissed there, Bombshell. So how are things going between you and the Boss?" He took me by the hand and walked me over to the couch.

I sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "We just got up to the 'we have to talk about us' stage, and his friggin' phone rang. And he took off in a cloud of dust with a hearty Hi-Ho Silver. So, I can't tell whether it's yea or nay."

He gave me a big wink. "Bombshell, let's go give you a little help. Since we've gone to the mattresses, so to speak, we're all locked up in this building together. You're the only woman here, other than Ella. There are a lot of appreciative men on the 4th floor who'd like a little female company. I'll make sure that the security cameras catch it all and that Carlos sees the tapes."

"Are you gonna try to make him jealous?"

"No Sweetheart, you are! Go fix yourself up a little." I shot him a look. "You're always gorgeous, just sometimes you're more gorgeous than others." I rolled my eyes but went and spruced myself up a little.

Ten minutes later, okay, thirty minutes later, Bobby and I went down to the 4th floor rec room. All the guys not on duty were there watching TV, playing pool or cards, or just sitting and talking. I went to each one and thanked them for whatever role they played in the extraction that morning. I shook hands with the contract guys that I only knew in passing, but hugged and kissed all the regulars.

I played pool, chatted, and danced for the next two hours. Only one of the guys, a contract worker named Scott who I'd never met before, tried anything. We were dancing and his hand drifted a little too far south and he gave my ass a squeeze. He was immediately taken aside by several of the Merry Men and straightened out.

Later, I excused myself to go to the restroom across the hall. I caught Bobby's eye and pointed to where I was headed. He was on his cell and nodded back at me. When I came out, Scott was waiting for me. I tried to move past him, but he kept blocking my way, playing this little dancing game of moving back and forth in front of me. He pretty much had me backed into a corner, and I admit that I was getting a little antsy.

"You must get plenty of action being the only woman in the place." Oh! Talk about starting off on the wrong foot and then putting it in your mouth!

"Excuse me? I think you must have misunderstood. I'm a RangeMan employee just like everybody else here."

"Oh Honey, you're not like anybody else here. You're the one with the hooters. You just Manoso's snatch or do all the guys get to dip in that well?"

"Okay Scott, if I didn't know better, I'd say you had a little too much to drink and your judgment was clouded. But since we're in lockdown, and the building is dry, I can only assume that you're just an asshole." I stepped around him and headed back toward the rec room.

I hadn't gotten three steps when he reached for me and grabbed the neckline of my shirt. He jerked me back with such force that I stumbled and the front of the shirt ripped down to my waist, the buttons flying everywhere. I stood frozen for a second, and then backed away. The fool obviously had no idea who he was dealing with!

I held up one hand in the classic 'Stop' gesture and put the other on the Glock at my hip. "Scott," I said calmly, you better rethink this. Remember where you are."

We both knew I wouldn't shoot him. He leered at me and moved closer. I shifted my weight to my left foot, waited until just the right moment and I kicked him in the nuts with my steel toed CAT with all the force I had in me. His eyes bugged out of his head like a cartoon character and he grabbed himself. As he bent over from the waist, my fist somehow came into contact with his face and I heard the satisfying crunch of his nose breaking. Blood spurted everywhere, and he fell to the floor in slow motion.

I think I may have yelled something very rude about his parentage, because Merry Men came pouring out of the rec room. I stood looking down at Scott for a second, hands on hips, before I realized that I was giving the guys an unintentional lingerie show.

I quickly crossed my arms over my chest and Hal stripped off his sweater and handed it to me. I escaped into the restroom to change. I had Scott's blood all over me from the splatter of his breaking nose, so I cleaned up the best I could, slipped off my shirt and put on the sweater. Thank God it wasn't a V-neck; the V would have come down to my waist. As it was, the neckline made a lovely scoop that showed my cleavage. But at least I was covered.

When I stepped out of the restroom, Scott had already been removed. Bobby stood next to me and took my arm, raising my hand in the air. In his best WWF announcer voice, he bellowed, "The winner and new Champion," he said to the group, "Stephanie, 'the Slugger,' Plum!" The Merry Men gave me a round of stomps, applause, whistles and assorted male noises. I responded with an exaggerated curtsey.

The party broke up as Bobby walked me to the elevator with his arm draped around my shoulders. I looked up at him, chewing my lip. "That wasn't exactly what you had in mind, was it?"

He barked out a laugh. "Slugger, I couldn't have come up with a better plan if I had sat down with a pad and pencil! It was perfect. Carlos is gonna blow a gasket."

"Yeah, but he isn't gonna be mad at you, is he?" Bobby kissed me on the top of the head.

He chuckled. "Thanks for worrying about me, but I was on the phone with him at the time, that's why I wasn't with you. So, you see, it's all his fault!" We both laughed at that particular turn of events.

"How's your hand?" He took my hand and inspected my knuckles. "Only a little bit of swelling. You don't even need an ice pack. You hit him just right, Slugger."

"Oh God, you're not gonna start calling me that, are ya? Stephanie, Steph, Babe, Cupcake, Bombshell, Bomber, now Slugger? I accused Ranger of having multiple personalities ... I'm turning into a regular Sybil!" I whined. Bobby just hugged me and howled with laughter.

By the time we got up to the 7th floor apartment, I realized how tired I was. It had been a long, emotionally charged day. From the feelings of betrayal this morning, to the extraction, to dinner and our almost talk, to Scott, I had been on an emotional roller coaster. All I wanted now was a shower and sleep. I kissed Bobby good night, leaving him in front of the plasma screen TV.

I locked myself into the bedroom and walked into the bathroom, stripped and took a long hot shower. I used liberal amounts of Ranger's Bvlgari gel, probably not a wise move considering my many months of celibacy. Standing under the pounding water, surrounded by his scent, I could imagine the feel of his hands on my wet body. Oh, the things that man could do to me, even in my own imagination. It crossed my mind that I could, perhaps, satisfy my own needs, but the thought of Ranger walking in and finding me doing ... that, just made me blush. I sighed in frustration and turned off the water.

I found one of Ranger's T-shirts and decided that it made a perfect night shirt, considering I had 'borrowed' so many of them for that very purpose. I coordinated it with black lace panties and slid into Ranger's heavenly bed. The only thing missing was Ranger. I slipped into exhausted sleep without even realizing it.

Sometime in the night I woke to gentle hands on my body, stroking, touching, and bringing me higher. A hot mouth on my cool skin, my face, my neck, my breasts, lower, sucking, nipping, tasting. Pleasure and pain. Long fingers parting my thighs, playing with my curls. Silken hair drifting across my skin. Sobs of need, cries of pleasure, mine, in the dark.

I awoke to full daylight. Someone was knocking on the bedroom door and calling my name, Ella. I stretched and looked around for Ranger, but I was alone. The bed was pristine, as if I had laid down and never moved the entire night. I was still wearing the T-shirt and panties, and when I went to the bedroom door, it was still locked. Disappointment washed over me. It couldn't have been a dream, it had been so real.

"Good morning Stephanie. Ranger asked that I bring you breakfast. It is in the kitchen, would you like me to set the table?"

My heart leapt in my chest. "No thank you Ella, when did you see him?"

"Oh, I have not seen him, my dear. He called last night as he was leaving. He said that you would need a good breakfast this morning."

"I see. Thanks Ella. Please don't bother with the table; I'll just eat in the kitchen."

Ella put her hand on my arm, "Stephanie, is everything all right? You look ill. Can I do something for you?" Her concern was evident.

"I'm fine, Ella." I forced a smile for her. "I guess I just didn't get enough sleep. Yesterday was a big day and today doesn't look much better."

Ella patted my arm and I promised that I would call her if I needed anything at all.

I went into the bathroom, brushed my teeth and took care of the usual morning essentials. I put on Rangers robe, wrapping it tightly around myself and knotting the belt. Then I wandered into the kitchen. Bobby was sitting at the bar, finishing his breakfast. He still wore the same clothes he had on last night, having spent the night on the couch. No, he hadn't seen or heard from Ranger.

The doorbell rang and Bobby went to answer it. Shift change. Hal had come up to take over as bodyguard. Bobby kissed me on the cheek and ruffled my 'scary morning hair' and went to get cleaned up. He'd see us at the meeting at 8am.

Ella had outdone herself with breakfast this morning; I only wished that I had the appetite to do it justice. French toast with fresh blueberries and warm syrup, crisp bacon, orange and pomegranate juice, fresh fruit compote and lots of hot coffee. Of course, once I sat down in front of this feast, my appetite overruled my disappointment and I happily licked my plate clean. Well, not really, but you know what I mean.

Hal and I chatted over final cups of coffee. He told me that after the 'Scott Incident' last night, everybody realized that I really was a force to be reckoned with. Maybe now, nobody would laugh at him over getting stunned anymore. Keep hoping, Hal!

The food and caffeine made me feel like a new woman. Of course I still carried the disappointment that my night of passion was all in my imagination, but ... it was probably all for the best. I collected my uniform and undies, and jumped in the shower. Wrapping myself in one of those big fluffy towels of Ranger's, I dried my hair and pulled it into a twist. I even put on a little makeup, just some shadow, mascara, blush, and lip gloss, but after all, the Feds were coming. Dress to impress, I always say. Yeah, right!

I dropped the towel and grabbed my deodorant. I applied one side and when I raised my other arm I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I froze. I spun around and went into the dressing room to look at myself in the full length mirror. There, on the side of my breast, was a lovely bruise that looked remarkably like the one that Ranger had left on my neck the other day. He still wore the matching one. I stepped closer to the glass and realized that there was a second one on my hip and a third on the inside of my thigh. I smiled to myself, so maybe it wasn't just a dream, after all.

I finished getting dressed, right down to the Glock, and grabbed the files that Randy Briggs and Silvio had sent. Hal and I made it down to the conference room with plenty of time to spare. Tank was already seated at the head of the table. No Ranger. He was stuck at the jewelry store overseeing the inventory of over two million dollars in stock. Tank couldn't say whether or not Ranger had come back to the building last night, they had each taken care of different facets of the investigation. When he asked why I wanted to know, I hedged. I'd have to do some investigating of my own later on. Maybe I could ditch my babysitter. Poor Hal!

I noticed that I would have the place of honor, sitting next to Tank. Marking my territory was a Starbuck's Venti mocha latte and two Boston Creams on a napkin. I seriously loved Hal. Okay, so I wouldn't try to ditch him. He's still trying to live down the stunning incident!

As the rest of the team assembled in the conference room I finally had an opportunity to talk to Haver. I hadn't seen him since the extraction yesterday morning and I needed to thank him for his participation. I had to admit that it had been a huge surprise to see him in combat mode, especially since I had never seen him in anything but a suit. He was beyond handsome no matter how he was dressed.

Tank called for order and let everybody know where Ranger was. He'd had the files from Silvio and Randy Briggs copied, so the team also had that information. He informed the group that two Agents from the ATF would be joining us later, as well as a representative from the TPD. He wanted us to go over everything that our investigation had uncovered, before we were joined by our guests.

He turned to me. "Bombshell, there's been a new development that came to light last night. I made the decision not to wake you since there really wasn't anything that could be done about it."

He handed me a file. Oh God, more photographs. At least these weren't of me, for a change. They were pictures of the little red sports car that I had rented yesterday. It had been keyed and the words, BITCH, WHORE, CUNT, and SNATCH had been scratched into it. Gasoline or some other flammable liquid had been poured over the whole thing and it had been torched, I guess the heat from the fire made the windows blow out. There go my chances of ever getting car insurance in the United States of America ever again!

I looked through the photos again. "You know, guys, there's something off about this whole thing." I studied the pictures some more. "I think a woman did this. This says pissed off, bitchy. This is a message. This isn't a revenge thing. Men don't key cars, women do. I'll bet you'll find sugar in the gas tank, too. A man would take a baseball bat and beat the crap out of a car, slash the tires, stuff like that. This amounts to advanced name calling."

The pictures were passed around the table, and the consensus of opinion was that I was right; it did look like a woman's work. The question of who knew that I had rented that car, led us to believe that whoever had hacked that photo loop into the RangeMan computers, was connected to the vandalized the car. If the hacker was the same person who sent the first picture, the one from the TPD security cam, then that person might be a woman who had access to TPD computers.

Silvio and Randy had both uncovered the same information. Karvic's Personnel files in Jersey City had been hacked into approximately a month before he applied for a job with the TPD. They both had been able to track the hacker back to the TPD and, because of his 'not so legal' tactics, Randy had isolated the computer that had been used. All we had to do was locate that computer and its' operator. Hopefully, our alliance with the TPD would produce that information. The chances of there being more than one hacker at the TPD were pretty remote. It looked like it was all the same person.

The Jersey City Police Department had been more than willing to work with RangeMan and had provided a copy of Karvic's original Personnel file. It didn't paint a pretty picture of the man. He had been suspended several times, with and without pay. He had numerous complaints lodged against him for everything from use of excessive force to sexual assault to questionable affiliations with known criminals to abuse of authority. I knew, first hand, that he wasn't a nice guy, but here was proof positive that I was right!

Karvic would never have been offered a position based on his original file. He had an accomplice inside the TPD, and that accomplice was threatening both RangeMan and me. The question of why he came to Trenton in the first place remained unanswered. Who was his accomplice? Why the threats? So many questions and so few answers. I crossed my arms over my chest and sighed in frustration. Haver, sitting next to me, put a sympathetic hand on my arm. This meeting was supposed to answer questions, not raise more.

We had been at it for more than two hours when Tank called for a break. I had had more coffee than a college student during midterms and my eyeballs were floating. I needed a trip to the rest room ... bad! I hustled out toward the restroom with Hal on my heels.

"Jeez Hal, I'm just going to the restroom!" I kept walking while I talked.

"Yeah, but remember what happened last night? Nobody wants a replay of that little encounter."

"I actually enjoyed myself, Hal. It's good to work off a little frustration every once in awhile." I grinned at him and he just shook his head.

We got to the restroom and Hal did a walk through, gun in hand, checking the stalls. I wondered if he really believed that some crazed psycho was lurking in there on the chance that I might show up. I shouldn't be surprised. After all, Ranger checked my apartment for killer dust bunnies on a regular basis. It must be a company regulation!

I took care of business, washed my hands, and reapplied my lip gloss. The TPD representative would show up next. I was hoping for Eddie or at least somebody that we all knew and had worked with before. It would be easier to exchange information if trust had already been established.

I walked out the door and Hal and I strolled back to the conference room. We had just turned the corner when a voice called me. "Cupcake?" I froze. Shit! I hadn't seen Morelli since our scream fest in Pino's parking lot. I blew out a deep breath and turned, ready for anything.

I plastered a smile on my face. "Hi, Joe, how have you been?"

He strolled up to me, hands in pockets. "I'm doing okay. You look good, Steph."

"Thanks, so do you." And he did. His hair needed a trim, as always, but he looked fit and trim and amazingly well dressed for Morelli. It crossed my mind that Terri had done a good job.

"Looks like we're gonna be working together, Steph. Is that gonna be a problem?"

"I think we can put our past aside and act like grownups for a change, don't you?" Holy crap! Where did that come from? I sounded like an adult! I held out my hand. "Peace?"

He took his hands out of his pockets and took mine in both of his. "Peace, Cupcake."

I looked down at our hands and saw that both of his were covered in scratches, fingernail scratches. I had just identified my 'attacker' from The Wharf, the man who had probably saved my life. "It was you ..." I raised my shocked eyes to Joe's and he saw the recognition there. I pulled my hands away from his and threw my arms around his neck and he wrapped me in his arms, my face against his neck.

We stood that way for long seconds. Finally, Hal cleared his throat and we broke apart. Only then did I realize that twin tears were rolling down my cheeks. Joe wiped them away with his thumbs and brushed a light kiss over my lips. I turned away, embarrassed; I hadn't wanted that to happen.

I raised my eyes to find Ranger, watching from the end of the hall. An emotion that I couldn't identify flashed in his eyes, and then the blank face slammed into place. He stared at me, his eyes cold and hard, then he turned and walked away.

TBC ...


	18. Finally Got Him Hooked!

Disclaimer: Any character that you recognize belongs to Janet Evanovich. Any new characters are figments of my imagination with the exception of one, who is real.

Warnings: All 12 books, language, sex, drugs, rock and roll, bad writing, you name it, you've been warned!

A/N: Thank you Christie, for editing, being my Technical Advisor, letting me put you in my story, and especially, for being my friend. Thanks to all who read and reviewed. Ranger loves you all. Please keep 'em coming. Ranger wants to wallpaper his office with them!

As The Worm Turns!

Chapter 18: Finally Got Him Hooked!

My heart dropped to my feet as I watched Ranger walk away. I turned back to look at Joe. He was standing, hands on hips, looking at the floor. I could tell by his expression that he hadn't done this on purpose. Strange, that was the first thing that crossed my mind. Ranger's right. Old habits do die hard. The kiss was just a spontaneous gesture and Joe looked like he regretted the trouble it caused.

He raised his eyes to my face and I could see the sadness there. "I'm sorry Cupcake, really I am." He waved his hand in the direction Ranger had gone. "If you need me for damage control, just holler."

"Thank you, Joe, for everything." He didn't say anything else, just nodded his head and turned to go into the conference room. And just like that, we acknowledged the end of an era. The end of Joe and Steph, of all the hopes of two families, of all the expectations of the 'Burg. In that second, I felt lighter than I had in forever. I felt free. I hoped that Joe did, too.

I didn't have time to mourn the passing of that relationship. I had a new one to worry about. I knew exactly what Ranger was thinking. He thought that Morelli and I would be getting back together again! Well, I'd just have to derail that particular train of thought. I walked quickly to Ranger's office, since that's where he had headed. Hal followed unhappily behind.

"Uh, Steph? I saw the expression on his face. This might not be a real good time to beard the lion in his den."

"He can only kill me Hal. Somehow I don't think that'll happen. You don't have to come in. Just guard the door and no matter what, don't let anybody in." I turned to him. "If this doesn't work, be sure to tell my parents where to find my body." Hal groaned.

We got to the office door and I hesitated. This was either the craziest thing I had ever attempted or the smartest thing I had ever done in my whole life. My love life had always just happened; I had always let love come to me. I had never really gone after what I wanted. But now, I had a choice to make here. I could wait and see how this played out on its own. Or, I could take matters into my own hands and try to control the outcome. Either way was a huge risk.

Well, damn it, I came to play! So, I took a deep breath and pounded on the door as hard as I could. I didn't wait for an answer. I just threw the door open, walked in and shoved it closed behind me. It's not like I came as a surprise, he knew it was me. He had a security monitor in his office so that nobody could sneak up on him. Ranger was sitting at his desk, working on his laptop. I marched over and stood in front of the desk.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" I demanded, my hands on my hips.

"Now is not a good time, Stephanie." Ohhh! Stephanie is it? His voice was neutral and he spoke quietly, but he didn't look at me.

"Oh, don't give me that crap. You're the one who gave me 'The Look' and stormed off. What the hell was that all about anyway?"

"Stephanie ..." He ground out my name through gritted teeth.

"Ranger ..." Ha! Two can place that game!

He still didn't look up from the laptop. "I saw you with Morelli."

"Yeah, so? Everybody saw me with Morelli! We were out in the middle of the hall, for crying out loud!"

"You always wrap yourself around old boyfriends like that, or are you two picking up where you left off?"

"If I didn't know better, I'd say that you sounded jealous." He snorted. "Oh, that's right, emotions are for lesser men." I made a pissy face at him, but he wasn't looking.

"It isn't jealousy, it's merely an observation." My turn to snort.

"So you don't hug and kiss Rachel when you see her?"

"That's not the same thing."

"Of course it is! She's an ex."

"It's very different. Rachel doesn't _want_ me anymore."

"Ahhhh, but that's not really the important part, is it?" He cocked an eyebrow at me. "What's important is, 'do you want _her_ anymore?' "

He tapped a key on the laptop and closed it. He sat quietly rubbing the spot right between his eyebrows. He looked like he'd had a bad night. There were fine lines of stress around his eyes and the five o'clock shadow that he was sporting made him look more dangerous, and delectable, than he normally did.

He took a deep breath and blew it out. "I've seen you two break up and get back together more times than I can count. I watched while you would fight to get yourself free and then run back over and over again. Why should I think that this time would be any different?"

"Maybe because I have a real good friend who pointed out that I had this very unhealthy pattern of behavior. And maybe because I'm telling that real good friend that I'm never going back to my old ways." I had to smile. "And as for the 'picking up where we left off' part, as I recall, where Joe and I 'left off' was in Pino's parking lot with me threatening to serve up his balls in a sandwich for him." I swear I saw the corner of his mouth twitch. Ranger hysteria.

"Quite a visual."

"Ranger, Joe is with Terri. He was with Terri before we broke up. Maybe he still wants me, but he wants Terri, too. Recently, I discovered something about myself. I found out that I'm a 'one guy' kind of girl and I only wanna be with a 'one girl' kinda guy. I'll always care for Joe, love him, on some level and I really hope that he'll feel the same way about me. But we never had a future; it just took our whole past for us to realize that."

Ranger had rolled his chair back. I took the opportunity to come around to his side of the desk and moved his papers and laptop over. I sat on the desk, right in front of him. He tipped back slightly, and looked at me.

We had done this before, the day he had come home from the hospital after Scrog shot him. Of course, now, I didn't have the advantage of wearing that little short skirt with my bare legs dangling in front of him, so I had to work with what I had.

I held out my hand to him and he took it. Slowly, I tugged both Ranger and the chair closer, until he was sitting between my legs. His eyes never left mine. We sat very still, just looking into each other's eyes, having an unspoken conversation. We would have to have this talk, out loud, later on, but for now, we were silently saying everything that needed to be said. Very slowly, his face broke into a perfect 1000 watt smile. My smile matched his. Ranger and I had reached an understanding.

He sat up, putting his hands on my knees and running them up my legs, almost to my hips. His thumb rubbed small circles on the inside of my thigh, right over that small bruise I had found there this morning.

"So were you my Dream Lover?"

He looked surprised. "Do you think that there are other possible candidates?"

"Well," I said thoughtfully, "Bobby was in the apartment, and look how many of the guys have access, Tank, Hal, Ram, Haver, Lest ..." I let out a whoop of laughter as he hauled me off the desk and tipped back in his chair. He pulled me onto him so that I was stretched out on top of him and we were face to face. We were both laughing, the joy of the moment lifting us.

He brushed the hair off of my face, still smiling, and kissed me so tenderly that he took my breath away. He traced my nose and my lips, and kissed me softly again.

"Imagining you in my bed was one thing, but actually finding you there ... The reality was so much better. You tasted so sweet, Babe. And those little noises you made just drove me wild." He made a purring sound deep in his chest and rubbed his stubbly cheek against mine like a big cat. He wrapped his arms around me and we lay there, heart to heart, sharing the moment.

We stayed like that, eyes closed, just breathing each other in, until Hal knocked on the door and let us know that the meeting was scheduled to start again in 10 minutes. We stood and stretched and Ranger pulled me against his chest.

"This isn't gonna be easy, you know.

I nodded. "I know, but I'm not signing on for easy."

"Ranger," I said to his chest, "I don't want to say anything to anybody about this until we know that it's gonna work out, okay?"

He pulled back to look down at me with that one damned eyebrow raised. "Do you really think I'd have a problem keeping this private?"

"I guess I forgot who I was talking to."

"You and I are gonna sit down after dinner tonight and negotiate this merger."

"Uh oh, I'm not sure that I'm ready for Wall Street Ranger, yet!"

"Wall Street Ranger? Am I missing something here?" He looked a little confused.

"Well, look at you. We have Stark Street Ranger, the rapper guy with the bling, who fits right in on Stark Street. We have Latino Gap Ranger who fits in his old neighborhood in Newark. Next up is SWAT Ranger, how you're dressed now. Mr. I'm Your Worst Nightmare, Don't Fuck with Me, all duded up in combat mode black. And last but not least, is Wall Street Ranger, the CEO, the businessman who talks mergers and stock portfolios."

"I sound like an action figure, Babe."

"Well ya know," I walked my index and middle fingers up his chest to the neck of his T-Shirt and gave it a little tug. "Most little girls play with Barbie and Ken dolls, but I always preferred GI Joe. So if this 'merger' works out, I guess I'm gonna have my very own, anatomically correct, Ranger action figure to play with."

"Then that means I'll have my own Babe doll to dress," he gave me his wolf grin, "and _undress_!"

I waggled my eyebrows at him and he made a grab for me but I squealed and ducked into the restroom that was attached to his office. I thought that I was really gonna love Playful Ranger. I looked in the mirror to check for damage and noticed that I had a goofy grin plastered on my face. I fluffed my hair and reapplied my lip gloss and made sure that my clothes were all in place.

When I stepped out, Ranger was wearing the same goofy smile. He was talking to Hal who grinned and winked at me. So much for keeping this 'merger' a secret! I rolled my eyes and smiled back at him. Hal, relieved of guard duty, left to go back to the conference room. Ranger reached over and grabbed my hand, kissed it, and we took off down the hall. I had to walk quickly to keep up with his long strides and he stopped short just before we turned the corner to the conference room. He backed me into the wall and kissed me quick and hard and spun around the corner dragging me behind him.

He had his hand on the doorknob of the conference room when he turned and smiled at me. "Wait," I whispered as I pulled him back from the door. I reached up and wiped the lip gloss off his mouth with my thumb.

"Not my color?"

"Definitely looks better on me, but there's something else. The guy who grabbed me at The Wharf, the one who stunned me and got my gun and shoes and put me back in the locker room?" He nodded. "It was Morelli." I told him how I knew that it was Joe.

Ranger blew out a deep breath in a whoosh, like he had been punched in the stomach. He raised his eyes to mine and reached out his hand to touch my cheek. "He saved your life, Babe. I may have to hug and kiss him myself." He grimaced and shuddered.

I had to laugh. "Come on, Ranger, let's go." He opened the door for me, and I walked into the room ahead of him.

Ella had set up a buffet style lunch in the conference room with all types of sandwiches and salads and fruits. The sight of it made me realize that I was starving. I was also sure that Ranger hadn't had anything since dinner last night. He'd made sure that I had breakfast, but I doubted that he had any.

I grabbed a plate and loaded up on the things I knew that Ranger would eat, added a bottle of water and took it over to where he was sitting, going over notes from the first part of the meeting with Tank. I went back, got a plate for myself and turned to find Morelli watching me. I sat down next to him at the big conference table.

"Did you eat?" I offered him my plate.

"Really don't have much of an appetite, Cupcake." He reached out and put his hand over mine, stroking my fingers gently. He was looking at me with those big, brown, puppy dog eyes of his. Those eyes that had lured me into his bed so many times. Those eyes that had lured me back to him against my better judgment. Those eyes that were so brown because he was so full of shit!

"Cut the crap, Morelli. And I do mean that literally. You're so full of it! I'm surprised you can walk!" I pulled my hand away and grabbed my sandwich.

Joe grinned at me. "Well, it was worth a try. Nothing ventured, nothing gained and it worked so many times before."

"You butthead! I felt guilty! I felt sorry for you! I can't believe that I let you manipulate me like that, you obnoxious ... male! I can't think of words bad enough for you. You and Terri deserve each other. You were Prom King and Queen and you're still Trenton royalty ... the Botox Queen and the Bullshit King! The perfect pair!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I couldn't resist." He held up both hands, palms out in surrender.

"Yeah, I'm sure that'll win you big points with Terri."

"Hey! I had to talk her out of putting a hit on you after your little chat at the police station. I have to admit, I'm sorry I missed that one." He kept chuckling, so I could only imagine Terri's reaction.

"She started it. If she had just kept her big, fat yap shut, I probably wouldn't have even nodded at her. And it was Jeanne Ellen who ran her off, not anything I said."

"Oh hell, I didn't know you two tag teamed her. Terri gets her revenge with a gun, not with her mouth."

I looked at him with my eyebrows raised into my hairline. "Excuse me?" I said in my pissiest voice. "I do believe it was your '_gun_' that she had in her _mouth_ when I caught you two." I looked pointedly at his crotch.

"Oh yeah, I was kinda hoping that you'd forget about that."

I snorted. Right, like I could forget that sight. I figured that a change of subject was in order. "So tell me, how did you get to be the TPD liaison when you've been gone for so many months?"

"I'm not. There's your TPD liaison now." Joe pointed to the conference room door. Eddie Gazarra had just walked into the room. Eddie was shaking hands with Tank and Ranger, who caught my eye and motioned me over. I gave Joe a questioning look, but got up and went over to the trio.

I hugged and kissed Eddie who, in an unusual display of emotion, pulled me to him and hugged me hard. "You had all of us pretty scared yesterday, Toots. Even Shirley stopped whining until we knew you were okay." I laughed and he kissed me on the cheek.

I looked at the three of them. "So if Eddie is the TPD liaison, what's Morelli doing here?"

"I'm sorry Bombshell," Tank said. "I should have told you earlier. Morelli and his partner are representing the ATF. I know that Morelli's here, but I don't know where his par ... Ah! Here we go."

I turned to the door in time to see a tall brunette walk into the room. I know that I did a classic, comedic double-take when I realized that the tall brunette was Christie. She looked at me and smiled. "Surprise!" She spoke in a soft voice, laced with a charming Southern accent, reminiscent of Haver's.

She certainly looked different. Her hair was done up in a sleek twist and her makeup was understated. She wore a black suit with stove pipe pants and a white silk shirt that screamed couture, black leather FMBs and a great bag. She had her ATF ID on her waist and when she hugged me, I knew that she carried her gun in a shoulder holster. Her suit jacket was impeccably tailored to camouflage it. The ATF doesn't pay their agents _that_ well; I was looking at money here.

Now that all the players were here, Tank called the meeting back to order. I sat next to Tank again, with Ranger across the table from me. If the conference table hadn't been so large, we could have played footsie. Joe sat next to Christie, and couldn't keep his eyes off of her. I wondered if Terri knew that there was trouble in paradise. Maybe Joe was just the kind of guy who always needed two women in his life, and I never realized it before. Well, as long as I wasn't one of them anymore, I hoped he'd be very happy.

Tank gave a brief rundown of what we had talked about this morning for the benefit of our guests. He also announced that RangeMan would be working with the ATF and the TPD to help investigate gun running in Trenton. Morelli had once referred to the Ramos Family as the 'Guns R Us' of Trenton. This was big business for them. If they thought that somebody was trying to muscle in on their territory, especially if there was gang involvement, this situation had the potential of turning into a full blown battle. Trenton had enough problems without being turned into a war zone. Everybody was being called into play to try to avoid a war.

Christie, having a background in profiling, asked to see the pictures of my vandalized rental car, and confirmed what I had supposed. More than likely, the person who had vandalized the car had been a woman. Eddie took a look at the photo of me walking into the station and said that he'd check out the video and who had access to it. Tank also gave him the information that Randy Briggs had come up with about the computer used to hack into Karvic's personnel file in Jersey City. Eddie was gonna be busy since the investigation into all these issues seemed to revolve around the TPD.

Haver informed us that Karvic's lawyers wanted to depose me tomorrow afternoon. We would need to follow through with the formal complaints against him, so that no suspicions were raised about our knowledge of his involvement in gun running. Christie and Joe would try to find out if any weapons were missing from any government facility, and report back, now that RangeMan was officially working with the ATF to gather information on Karvic.

The meeting finally broke up, which was a good thing since my ass had fallen asleep about an hour ago. As exciting as all this new information was, I was completely frustrated since I was still under lockdown here at RangeMan. It had only been a little more than a day, and I was already going stir crazy. I got up out of my chair and walked around the table to ask Ranger if I could take Christie up to his apartment so that we could talk. He readily agreed, knowing that it would give me something to do. We also agreed that I didn't need a bodyguard inside the building. Having a Merry Man leaning against the restroom door while I peed was a little bit much. That earned me a smile.

As I turned back to speak to Christie and I watched mesmerized, as Joe leaned his arm on the back of Christie's chair and draped his hand over her shoulder, running his fingers in little circles. He had leaned in close enough that his lips were almost on her ear. His other hand snaked under the table and he ran it up her thigh. I had a good idea of how far up he went by the expression on her face. She half turned in her chair and put her hand on his knee, giving him a seductive smile.

I caught Ranger's eye, he was watching this foreplay, too. I think Ranger was concerned about how I was taking Joe's moving on. I just rolled my eyes. Suddenly, Joe let out a small strangled noise and turned so red, he was almost purple. Christie was whispering to him, and I saw him nod. I watched as sweat broke out on his forehead and he slid, in slow motion, out of his chair and under the conference table. I bent down to look at him. He lay on the floor, curled into a fetal position, both hands holding his crotch.

Christie looked at the remaining people in the room, all of whom had seen this exchange. She simply shrugged and said, "Pulled groin muscle."

She got up and came around the table to me. "Got time for a chat? I think Joe'll need a while to recover from his ... muscle cramp." Ranger and Tank snickered and turned away.

"Absolutely, let's go upstairs where we can have some privacy."

We left the conference room and went up to the 7th floor apartment. I called Ella and asked her to bring up some tea, since the only thing that Ranger had was some unpronounceable herbal stuff. We curled up on the couch in the living room and I bombarded Christie with a million questions.

"I hope that you understand why I didn't tell you that I was an ATF agent." Christie sounded nothing like the girl I had met at The Wharf. Her hard edged, east coast, inner city accent was completely gone, replaced by a soft, upper class Southern accent.

"Oh, not at all! I understand that you can't go advertising that you're working undercover. Still, I knew there was something different since you didn't take any customers outside. That was a give away for me."

Christie laughed. "I told anybody who asked that I was in an active herpes stage. They backed off pretty fast."

"So how did you wind up here, in Trenton?"

"The ATF needed a female agent who wouldn't be recognized by the locals. I'm based in Sacramento, California but since I generally work in illegal gun trafficking, I work special duty all over the country."

"It sounds like you live an exciting life."

"No! Not at all. Most of my time is spent on investigation and surveillance. A lot of time on the computer and sitting in cars. I'm sure that you know what that's like."

"Oh yeah! Gallons of coffee and trying to keep your butt from falling asleep."

"And not being able to pee standing up!" We laughed in mutual understanding. It was something that only another woman would appreciate.

"I have to ask, what made you choose the ATF? You certainly don't strike me as your typical feeb. Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that in a bad way. It's just that Feds are always so 'by the book' and 'cookie cutter'. Very few of them think outside the box."

Christie nodded. "I know what you mean. I think that's why it's easier for me to work with reps from other agencies, like local police. They're more flexible."

"Oh, Morelli's flexible alright. The Italian Stallion is a regular contortionist."

Christie hooted with laughter. "He keeps offering to prove just how good he is. Is there any limit to his conceit? Were you really engaged to him, or was that just more of his storyin'?"

"Let's just say he proposed in front of his mother and grandmother to get them to leave so that he could get me into bed. He tends to be single minded about certain things. Sex is certainly one of those things."

"But does he live up to his self proclaimed reputation?"

"Half the female population of New Jersey will attest to the fact that he more than lives up to that reputation. Why? Are you interested in testing it, too?"

"Oh no no no! I have a personal policy to never sleep with a man who feels the need to tell me how other women have rated him in the sack. Kind of like a reverse little black. It's kind of like tooting your own horn." We looked at each other and went off into gales of laughter at her pun.

I wiped the tears dripping from my eyes. "Joe is a good man, though. And a good cop. He loves his job and he has a wonderful heart. I love Joe, and I know that he loves me. Unfortunately, as trite as it sounds, sometimes love just isn't enough. We share a long and colorful past, but shared experiences don't guarantee a future. You both have to want the same thing, and we don't. Neither one of us was willing to give up our own dreams for the other and we just couldn't find a compromise."

She nodded in understanding. "So, you and Ranger?"

"Well, that remains to be seen."

"What did you say to Joe, anyway? You know, when he was having that ... muscle cramp? I saw him nod."

Christie gave me an angelic smile. "I simply told him that my mama wouldn't approve of him putting his hands on me, and that if he ever did it again, he'd be carrying his balls home in a zip-lock bag."

Ella arrived with the tea. I had expected a pot of tea and Ella had brought High Tea for us. She had made little finger sandwiches and beautiful little sweet treats on lovely china, along with a silver tea service, and linen napkins, all on a tea cart. I asked Ella to join us, but she said that Ranger had called to order a special dinner for this evening. She gave me a wink and told me that we'd have to have a long talk later on.

In the course of the afternoon I found out that Christie was Christin Montgomery-Walker, a true Southern Belle and debutante from Charleston, South Carolina. Her family was old and moneyed; her education had been in private schools in the South and boarding schools in Europe. She was a next generation social butterfly, following in her mother's footsteps. In college, the sorority girl, was a member of the Junior League, and Daughters of the Confederacy and the Valedictorian of her class.

Her parents, especially her mother, were devastated that she wanted to work and had refused to marry the polo playing, trust fund baby that they had chosen as her husband. Christie has decided to break the shackles of parental expectation and all her electives in college were psychology and human behavior. She decided early on that she wanted to be a profiler with a Federal Agency and was getting her "street time" with the ATF. Her parents thought that she was doing some modeling for some designer in Europe with the idea that she'd become a fashion editor for Vogue. Finding out what their little Southern Belle was really doing would send her mother into the vapors, and her father into the ICU.

Being posted all over the country on various operations left Christie with a lot of time on her hands, in strange cities, with few opportunities to make friends. As a result, in her spare time, Christie wrote fan fiction about a girl bounty hunter from New Jersey. Most of her stories were based on her own experiences and I decided that I would look them up on the internet while I was here under house arrest. That bounty hunter story line sounded vaguely familiar to me, like I'd heard about it somewhere before.

Ram called the apartment from the Comm Room, saying that Morelli was looking for Christie. I guess he had recovered. She collected her things and I went down to the fifth floor with her. We had decided to do some research together, and she agreed to approach the powers that be about my taking an active part in the operation once the RangeMan lockdown was lifted.

I wasn't allowed to go to the garage with them, so I hugged and kissed them both at the elevator. I snickered when I noticed that Joe stood on the other side of the elevator from Christie and kept a wary eye on her. I raised my hand in a little finger wave as the doors closed on them, more than a little sad that I wasn't going with them.

I wandered back to my desk to find my in box overflowing with search requests. Well, I was still working here so I fired up my computer and started searching. I worked for a couple of hours when my phone rang.

"Stephanie, it's Haver. Could I see you in the conference room please?"

"Sure, Haver. Is anything wrong?"

"No, just routine. I thought we could go over the questions that will probably be asked tomorrow at the deposition."

"Okay, give me five minutes to tie up the search I'm doing and I'll be there."

Five minutes later I had closed out the search and shut off my computer. When I got to the conference room, I met Cal on his way out. He put his arms around me, gave me a kiss on the cheek and told me not to worry, everything would be fine. Haver and Ranger were there, and stood when I entered the room. Haver pulled out a chair and seated me.

"Steph, you need to know that Karvic might be there tomorrow. I have no idea how he's going to play this. If he's smart, he'll show up and fight the complaints, or at least claim justification. We know that he isn't a good cop, but who knows about the smart part. I just want you prepared for anything and everything."

"I'm just going to go over the questions that I think Karvic's lawyers will probably ask. Look at me first and I will let you know whether or not to answer the question. Answer with as few words as possible, 'Yes' or 'No' wherever you can. Give no explanation unless I tell you to. Don't argue with them and try to remain calm. They're going to try to muddy the waters by making you look hysterical or out of control or under the influence, anything that would have allowed Karvic to use excessive force."

He put his hand on my shoulder, "If it gets to be too much, we can stop at any time." I just nodded and looked over at Ranger, who sat, completely passive.

Haver had a million questions from my name and address, to what time I got to The Wharf. Had I been drinking, who did I work for, how long had I worked there, how many distraction jobs I had done, how did I get to The Wharf, did I consider myself to be an expert in distraction? Who chose my clothes, how much was I paid, did I take unnecessary risks, did I have a personal relationship with any of my coworkers, had I ever met Karvic before, who did I know at the TPD? Was I a lesbian, did I know any of the employees at The Wharf, had I ever had sex for money? Had I ever kissed any of my coworkers, had I ever been employed in a sexually oriented business, what other kinds of jobs had I had, what kind of car did I drive, who paid my rent, had I ever had sex with my boss?

The last question threw me. I saw Haver and Ranger exchange a knowing glance. I looked at Ranger and opened my mouth, but no answer came out. "Haver, I think that's enough for now. You can always pick this up again in the morning, if necessary. I think Stephanie did just fine." Ranger stood and came around behind me, putting his hands on my shoulders.

I knew that the questions were designed to make me run the emotional gamut. But the thought of seeing Karvic's smirking face across the table from me tomorrow while I was answering those questions, just scraped my nerves raw. Knowing that he had killed that boy in cold blood, with no hesitation at all, scared me spitless. I was a much bigger threat than that kid was. What were my chances if he ever found out what I knew?

Haver pulled his chair over in front of me and took my ice cold hands in his. He rubbed then together to try to warm them up. "I seriously doubt that they will ask most of those questions, but you have to be prepared for whatever they throw at you." His deep, rich voice with his thick as molasses Southern accent was reassuring and calming. "Do you have a red suit?" I nodded. "Wear it tomorrow. Red will give you courage and I'll bet you'll look sensational in it." I leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, Haver." My voice cracked a little and I gave him a tight smile. "Now I can truthfully say that I've kissed everyone at RangeMan."

Haver smiled and kissed both of my hands before turning back to his paperwork. Ranger pulled me gently out of the chair and placed a soft kiss on my forehead. We walked out of the conference room, to the elevator and stood, side by side, waiting for it to come. When the doors opened, Ranger stepped back so that I could enter first. I leaned against the wall, and rubbed my eyes. My head throbbed so badly I felt like my eyeballs were going to dissolve. I had never had a migraine, but I thought I was working on my first one right now.

The doors pinged open on 7 and Ranger silently took my hand and walked me into his apartment and straight into his bedroom. Flipping back the covers, sat me on the bed and knelt in front of me. He unlaced my boots and took them off, pulling my socks off, too. He left me sitting on the edge of the bed while he went into the bathroom and quickly came back with a bottle and a glass of water. I took the two Advil he shook into my hand, and gave him back the half empty glass. Very gently, he pushed me onto my back and unsnapped my cargos, pulling them down my legs and off.

"Ranger? What are you doing?" Not panic, but something, fluttered through my body.

He simply said, "Shhhhhh, Babe. Don't worry."

Before he tucked me under the covers he reached around me and, with practiced fingers, unhooked my bra. He slipped the straps down my arms and pulled my hands through, and pulled the bra out from under my shirt.

"That's a neat trick." I said sleepily. "You have a lot of use for that little stunt?"

"Not so much anymore, but it's a skill every teenaged boy should have. Just like to keep my hand in practice. You never know when you might need it."

He laid me back onto the pillows and pulled the covers up over me. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he brushed my hair out of my face and bent to kiss me. He placed slow, soft, gentle kisses on my forehead, and cheeks, on my eyes and my chin, saving my mouth for last. A sense of contentment settled over me at the long, slow, tender kisses we shared. "Sleep, Baby." he whispered against my lips.

I watched as he walked over to one of the big leather chairs, untucking his shirt as he went. He sat, unlaced his boots and toed them off. Stretching his long legs out, he crossed his ankles on the seat of the other chair and placed his gun in his lap. He leaned back with a small groan, as if it almost hurt to let his body relax.

He turned his head, looking at me through half closed eyes. I could see the exhaustion in his eyes, and his face, and his body. I held out my hand to him and lifted the bed covers. "You sure, Babe?"

I nodded slowly and scootched over to the middle of the bed. He put his gun on the night table and pulled off his shirt before he climbed into the big bed. We arranged outselves together so naturally, that it felt like we had done this for years. No awkwardness of what to do with arms and legs, we came together like the two parts of one whole. We were a perfect fit, I thought, truly made for each other.

I sighed in satisfaction and I felt his muscles start to relax. "Are you okay, Babe?" He whispered against my hair. I nodded and whispered against his chest, "Are you okay, Carlos?"

I felt him smile into my hair and draw me more tightly against him, "You have no idea how okay I am." He nuzzled my temple and left a kiss there. We fell asleep together, in each other's arms, feeling each other breathe, feeling each other's heartbeat. Together.

TBC ...

Sorry, no cliffhanger this week. I needed a break. Now the NEXT chapter ... OMG! Please read and review, Ranger gets such a kick out of them!


	19. Hook, Line, and Sinker!

As The Worm Turns!

Disclaimer: Any characters that you recognize belong to Janet Evanovich. All others are figments of my demented imagination.

Warnings: All twelve books, sex, drugs, rock and roll, bad language, bad writing, you name it, you've been warned!

A/N: Thank you to all who have read and reviewed. Please keep 'em coming! Special thanks to my Guardian Angel, Christie, for everything but especially the laughter. KAD!

As The Worm Turns!

By: Stayce

Chapter 19: Hook, Line, and Sinker!

I was dreaming that Ranger was holding me in his arms and I felt safe and protected and loved. He was making a necklace of soft, wet kisses over my neck and shoulders. I sighed in contentment as I ran my hand over his amazing chest and around to his back. Pulling myself closer to him, I returned the kisses, running my mouth along his jaw and down his throat, across his shoulder, tasting him.

I rolled over onto my back, bringing him with me, my dream lover. He braced himself on his forearms and threaded both hands into my hair, holding my head still as he kissed me slowly, angling his head to deepen the kiss. His silken tongue stroked mine and he lay between my legs, rocking gently into me. I ran my hands down his perfect back and slipped my fingers under the waistband of his cargos, kneading those fabulous cheeks of his and digging in my nails. His groan rumbled deep in his chest and his mouth found my nipple through the fabric of my shirt. I arched at the sensations that shot through my body. From far away I heard his voice, "Babe, dinner's ready."

"Ha!" I thought to myself. "I'll say it is. I'm the entree and, oh boy, am I ready! You can be my dessert!"

"Babe, Steph ... Come on. Time to wake up." I could hear the smile in his voice as he cajoled me awake, kissing the back of my neck. The back of my neck? I sighed deeply and opened my eyes. He was sitting on the side of the bed, his hand drifting over my back. Dreaming again, damn it! I'd been making out with the pillow. I turned my head and smiled at the sight of him. His hair was damp from the shower and he was clean shaven, a pity, really.

He patted me on the butt and I wiggled it a little. I did that stretch that he likes so much, ass man that he is, with my butt up in the air. He groaned again, but this time he grabbed me and nipped me on one butt cheek and kissed the other through my panties as I screamed with laughter.

"Not too long ago you told me that I could kiss your ass. You have my sincere promise that I'll do just that on a regular basis." He pinned me down and laughingly kissed me from my butt cheeks down the back of my thighs while I kicked and squealed and begged for mercy. He flipped me onto my back and laying half on me, kissed me breathless.

"Stephanie," he murmured, nuzzling my ear, "I'm giving you fair warning. You have about 5 seconds to get out of this bed or I'll take it as consent and act on it." He pulled the neck of my t-shirt down and nibbled along my collarbone. I think I waited 4 ½ seconds before I moved!

I wiggled out from under him and jumped out of the bed, heading for the bathroom. At the door I turned to look back at him, Mr. Gorgeous, laying on the bed with his chin resting on his hands.

"How come you aren't up?" I arched an eyebrow at him.

He gave me his wolf grin. "Oh, I think I've got 'up' covered." He turned over and looked down at the impressive erection that he was sporting, then looked back at me. I whooped and fled into the bathroom.

I took a speedy shower, buffing, puffing, shaving and shampooing in record time. I wrapped myself in Ranger's robe and realized that I had gotten into a lot of trouble wearing that robe. I couldn't chance any more trouble tonight. Ranger and I had some negotiating to do. Peeking out the door, I breathed a sigh of relief to find the bedroom empty and the door open. I could hear voices drifting through the apartment, Ranger and Ella. I dashed into the dressing room where Ella had made room for all my clothes and quickly pulled on my undies. I was just about to slip a v-neck sweater over my head when I noticed that Ranger was leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest, studying me.

"What?" I was holding the sweater, making no move to put it on even though I was standing there half naked. It dawned on me that I wasn't feeling embarrassed or shy standing in front of him like that.

"Your skin is so beautiful. I should have shaved before I got into bed with you." He took the two steps over to me and gently touched my neck with his fingertips. "Whisker burn." He bent his head and ever so gently kissed the red marks he had left on me. I fisted his hair and pulled his face to mine, and laid soft, gentle kisses on his cheeks and under his chin and on his lips.

"You're making it very difficult for me to behave myself." His voice was rough as he ran his hands over my back and down to squeeze my cheeks. He mock bit my shoulder and growled, putting me away from him.

"Dinner's on the table. Ella has outdone herself tonight and it'd be a shame if we let it get cold. I'll wait for you in the dining room." Ranger stepped back from me and left the dressing room. I'm quite sure that if I looked in the mirror, I'd see that I was wearing that sappy grin again. I hurriedly pulled on the red sweater and a pair of loose, black knit pants and went into the dining room.

Ella really had gone all out tonight. There were linens and silver and china, candles and fresh flowers. At each place was a plate with a silver dome over it. Ranger seated me, and like last night, poured me a glass of wine, but took none himself. RangeMan was still on lockdown and no alcohol was allowed to the employees. Apparently, I was getting special treatment since I was the only one that they knew for sure had been threatened. That made me the only one in the building that wouldn't be sent out on an assignment.

"Are you trying to ply me with liquor so that you'll soften me up for the negotiations? Just remember, I can push a pretty hard bargain, mister. I'm not going to let this turn into a hostile takeover." I was speaking his language and I looked at him rather smugly. He just grinned and shook his head.

We started our meal with spinach salad and hot bacon dressing topped with sliced strawberries. I knew it was turkey bacon, but it was so delicious that I didn't mind that it was healthy. The salad was followed by turkey scallopini with mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and capers in a white wine and lemon sauce, on a bed of angel hair pasta. There was even hot, crusty bread on the side. Since Ranger was eating the same thing, I knew it was all fat free and healthy. I could get used to this!

By the time I finished, I was happy I hadn't worn tight jeans. I leaned back in my chair and patted my tummy. Ranger chuckled as he watched me. "Other women want diamonds and cars, and you're just as happy with a good meal. Amazing!"

"I guess I just know what's important. Diamonds and cars are great, but can you really see me in diamonds, and we both know what happens to my cars. I guess I'm just realistic about it. As far as I'm concerned, the most valuable thing I own is Rex."

"Is there anything that you want so badly, that it makes your mouth water just thinking about it?" He sat slouched in his chair, one foot on the other knee, looking totally relaxed.

"Ohhhhh yeah! Dessert!" I looked directly at him and ran the tip of my tongue along my upper lip.

Ranger groaned. "You're killing me, Babe! Are you ready for dessert?" He realized what he said and laughed. "No, don't answer that!"

"I'll wait, thanks." I gave him my version of a wolf grin. "I'd really like to get this over with. I feel like I'm dealing with a shark here. Your reputation as a negotiator precedes you and you told me yourself that you're an opportunist. I'll bet that you can smell the fear."

He smiled as he came around the table and took my hand and led me into the living room. He sat down and pulled me onto his lap and kissed my neck.

"Ohhhhh, no you don't. You know that this gives you an unfair advantage. We both know that you can talk me into anything you want. So, NO touching!" I scrambled off his lap and sat on the far end of the couch, facing him, my feet tucked up under me. I grabbed a throw pillow and held it in my lap to give me something to do with my hands. Ranger never took his eyes off of me.

"Do I make you nervous, Babe?" He gave me a fake, all teeth, 'shark' smile.

"No, I don't think that nervous is what you make me feel. But this situation scares me."

"Me, too." He said softly, suddenly all serious.

My eyes met his. I was surprised he admitted that. Mr. Big Bad Mercenary, scared of a relationship. At least we were starting on equal footing.

"So, how do we do this. I've never negotiated anything more than a bad deal on a used car. I don't know what to do? I guess I should have read Dr. Phil's book!"

"The easiest thing to do is for each of us to lay it out on the table, so to speak. We tell each other what we need and what we're willing to offer. If we're going to build something, we have to have a solid foundation, so let's start with our foundation."

I nodded. He was right. It was like we were building a house. The foundation and framework had to be sound and strong. The rest was all decoration.

"Why don't you start, Babe? Tell me the basics of what you need, the big things. Tell me what you need from 'me' to make 'us' work. There are gonna be lots of things that we'll have to figure out as we go along. But let's start with the big stuff."

I cleared my throat. "I need faithfulness, and honesty, and respect. I need you to be more open with me, emotionally. I need to be in your life, not just in your bed. I won't expect you to tell me every little thing, but I shouldn't be afraid to ask you what you had for lunch. I need to know when you're gonna disappear, whether it's overnight or for six months. For us to work, I need to know that you trust me the way I trust you." The words just sort of spilled out of my mouth, like I'd always had the answer to that question, ready and waiting.

Ranger had paid attention to what I said, nodding as I spoke. "I need pretty much the same things as you do, Babe. I need that same faithfulness and honesty and respect from you. I need to know that you won't pack up and run away every time things get tough, that you'll stay, and try to work it out." He hesitated for so long that I thought he was finished. "I need to know that you won't go back to Morelli." We sat, looking at each other, for a long time.

He gave me a small smile. "What else, Babe. What aren't you saying?"

I thought about that for a few minutes. "I'm not trying to make you angry but, I need to know why you changed your mind. About having a relationship. You're saying all the things that I've wanted to hear for so long, but I gotta tell ya, I'm scared that in the morning ... I mean, I have all these questions running around in my head. Is this just another ploy to get me back in bed? Am I that itch you have to scratch again? Morelli's gone, there's nobody to send me back to, how are you gonna get rid of me this time? I need to know that you won't just get up and leave, again. I need to know that this time it's for keeps."

He spoke slowly. "I don't blame you for not trusting me about this. Based on past performance, I haven't given you any reason to. The truth is that I wanted you for a long time. I had myself convinced that I could get you out of my system, that the reality wouldn't be as good as the fantasy. I was wrong. I had myself convinced that a relationship with you would be dangerous, for both of us. But in reality, I didn't want to complicate my life, and you are one hell of a complication. Life is easier when you don't have to answer to anyone. Especially my kind of life."

"Jeez, I don't know if I should be insulted or not."

He shook his head. "I'm not trying to be insulting, Babe, but I'm a practical man. There's a difference between what I want, and what I can get. Before, you said that I fed you little pieces of information about myself to pacify you. You were right. And I settled for what I could get from you. Kissing you in the alley, the de Chooch deal, those were the scraps I took to pacify me."

"I thought that I couldn't ask for more because I didn't have anything to offer you. It took me a long time to realize that maybe I didn't need to offer you the white picket fence, that it wasn't what you wanted either."

"But what opened my eyes was something that Ella said to me the morning I picked you up at the jail. She said that if I didn't get my act together, I was going to have to stand by and watch you walk out of my life with another man. Not because you loved him, she told me, but because you needed to be loved. Is that why you kept going back to Morelli? Because you knew that he loved you?"

I paused for the longest moment, "Morelli was safe. He loved me, and he wanted me.

The trouble was he wanted me to be somebody I'm not and he didn't even know it. Joe's a good man, but he has tunnel vision where the future is concerned."

"Joe has this mental photograph of the perfect family, everything his wasn't when he was a kid. There's a dad and a mom standing in front of a house, surrounded by kids and a dog and toys. It's his face on the dad, and mine on the mom, and Aunt Rose's house in the background, and even Bob's there. The kids would come along and he would have his perfect family."

"But he never asked me if it was what I wanted. I tried so hard to convince myself that I belonged in that picture." I shook my head at the thought. "We were doomed to failure. I'm just glad that we both realized it before we actually got married and did any more damage to each other."

He moved half way down the couch and took my hand, rubbing his thumb over my palm. "Kind of ironic, isn't it, that we're both afraid of the same thing?"

I nodded. "Yeah, we're both afraid that the other will walk away and we'll be hurt. So how do we fix that?"

He folded his arms over his chest and looked down at the floor, thinking. "How about," he said, "a trial period? 30 days, no risk, money back, no strings, walk away as friends, knowing that we've given it our best shot? I'll give you my word that I won't disappear, you give me your word that you won't run away."

I guess I looked skeptical because he added, "I'll even throw in the kicker. No sex until we decide that this can work. Do you think you can control yourself for a month, Babe? Can you keep your hands to yourself?" I burst out laughing, tossed the pillow on the floor, and crawled over to wrap my arms around him.

He laughed along with me. "So do we have a deal?"

"Yeah, Carlos, we have a deal!" He kissed me long and slow. "Mmm, sealed with a kiss."

We lay on the couch snuggled together for a long time, just contented with the contact. I loved this, just laying in his arms, calm and quiet and serene. I lay with my head on his shoulder running my hand up and down his arm. He twisted his fingers in my curls. I looked up at his beautiful face and ran my hands over that perfect chest. I looked down at his long legs that were tangled with mine and stopped to look at his truly sensational ... Oh my God! I'm turning into Grandma Mazur! I felt a hum start in my toes and work it's way up to the top of my head. Thirty days, I thought, I must be out of my flippin' mind!

"Hey," he said softly. "Know what we forgot?"

"What? Something important?" Maybe sealing the deal with hot gorilla sex? You know, just to make sure that we're still compatible?

"Very. Your dessert! Stay here, I'll get it." He got up off the couch and went into the kitchen. I heard the fridge open and close. He came back in holding a large goblet filled with the most beautiful chocolate mousse I'd ever seen. It was topped with an artistic swirl of whipped cream and tiny chocolate shavings and orange zest. It looked just like something off the cover of a fine dining magazine.

He took a spoonful, and looking directly into my eyes, slid the spoon back and forth over my bottom lip until I opened my mouth. He slipped the spoon in and I used my lips to take the mousse off of it. It was wonderful! Smooth and silken and sweet, the flavors bursting over my taste buds. My eyes fluttered shut and I moaned in delight.

When I opened my eyes, Ranger was staring at me, his black eyes fixed on my mouth. "I've seen that look on your face before, Babe." He put down the goblet and took my face in his hands. "That night, the first time I buried myself in you, I made you look that way." My breath caught in my throat. He put his lips against mine and murmured, "Now I know that I rate right up there with chocolate mousse." And he grabbed me and blew a raspberry on my neck.

Laughing at my surprise, he handed me the goblet and got up from the couch. "I have to go down to the Comm Room and check on things. Tank's been trying to get my attention." He pulled his phone off his hip and looked at it. It vibrated again and Ranger flipped it open.

"Yo!" And he listened for a minute.

"Okay, we'll be right down." He turned to me. "Get your shoes on. Tank has news from Eddie."

I leapt up off the couch and made for the bedroom. I stopped, went back and grabbed a big spoonful of the mousse, stuffing it into my mouth before running to find my shoes. Ranger's laughter followed me. He had laughed and smiled and talked more in the last twenty-four hours, than he had in the last year. He seemed relaxed and even happy. I hoped it was because of me. "Hurry up, Babe." He called after me. "I'll get the elevator."

I stepped into my shoes and almost ran out into the living room, skidding to a stop long enough to grab the mousse and the spoon. I made it out of the apartment just as the elevator doors slid open. Ranger looked at me and attempted an eyeroll.

"What?" I challenged him. "I can't let this go to waste! I have my priorities!" He just shook his head.

He stood against the back wall of the elevator and put an arm around my waist, holding my back to his front, his chin on my shoulder. I took a spoon of the mousse and held it up to his mouth. "Want a taste? It's heavenly."

He used his fingers to tip my chin up. His mouth came down to mine and he kissed me, his tongue exploring my mouth, until the doors pinged open on 5. "Yes," he said softly nuzzling my face, "you are."

Tank was waiting for us in Ranger's office. He was sitting in one of the guest chairs with a stack of files in his lap. Bobby was in the other chair and Lester was stretched out on the couch. They all looked at us as we walked in and broke into huge smiles.

"Hello there, Bombshell. And how are you this lovely evening?" He wore a mile wide smile.

"Um, just fine I think, Tank. Why are you all grinning like that?"

"Oh, no reason. Just in a good mood I guess."

Tank looked at Ranger and gave him a wink. Men! And they say that women can't keep secrets! I wouldn't be surprised if I found a notice about our 'agreement' posted on the bulletin board in the break room tomorrow. So much for secrecy! They probably have all the details already! I looked at Ranger and rolled my eyes.

He cleared his throat. "Okay Tank. What do you have for us?"

"Eddie and I have been in contact all day. First, RangeMan found that the cross hairs on the sniper scope that was used in those photos of you, are signature to a certain manufacturer. It just so happens that there was one in the evidence locker at the station. Strangely, it was missing when Eddie went looking for it yesterday and miraculously, it reappeared today. They fingerprinted it and came up with a couple of partials. They're trying to do a match now."

"Then, Eddie couldn't very well go nosing around every computer in the building, so he went to the IT department. He gave them some cock and bull story about an internal investigation because somebody was using a TPD computer to send harassing emails. They couldn't have been more helpful. The computer in question sits on the desk of one Carole Ann Polesek, a civilian employee. After she left for the day, the resident IT geek dug into her hard drive and traced her activity back to the Jersey City Police Department personnel files and to the in-house TPD security system and to RangeMan. Our girl accessed it all."

Something was niggling at the back of my brain and I was finally able to grab onto it. "Tank, can you run that last name through the system? I know that I know it. I think one of my early skips was an Ernie Polesek. Can you see if there's a connection?"

"Sure thing, Bomber." He flipped open his laptop and his finger flew over the keys. "Got it!" Tank read from his laptop. "Ernest Albert Polesek was one of Steph's first skips. He had jumped bail on an 'assault with intent' charge. Vinnie wouldn't bail him out again and he went into the system. Got into a fight at the jail, stabbed a guy, wound up in Rahway and was killed last month in a fight in the yard. Next of kin is listed as Carole Ann Polesek."

"So this is revenge? She blames me for her brother's death? What does this have to do with Karvic though? Why would she break into his files in Jersey City so he could get a job here?" I started pacing back and forth while I ate my mousse. "I wonder if there's any way we could find out if they knew one another before he came here. Does Eddie know if they were dating or anything like that?" I pointed at Tank with my spoon, "Ohhh, maybe Robin would know. Girls have a better ear for that kind of gossip. Or maybe Stella, the Chief's secretary. I'll bet she'd know! And I bet the 'Burg will know. I think I'll call Mary Lou and have her get in touch with Maria Esposito. Her husband is Dana Martini's brother and he ... " I realized that all the guys were watching me, grinning.

"What? Don't you guys look at me in that tone of voice! You do the same stuff only you call it 'using Confidential Informants'. It's still just gossip no matter what you call it! I'm gonna go make some phone calls. There's too much testosterone in this room. It's stifling my thought processes." And I flounced out of the office listening to their laughter all the way down the hall.

I went to my cubicle to make the phone calls so that I could talk privately and take notes. I had just finished talking with Mary Lou when I noticed a lot of activity. Ranger, Bobby and Lester came down the hall strapping on Kevlar and loading weapons. They went straight to the elevator. Tank went into the Comm Room and put on his head set. Obviously something big was going down. I stood up and started after them, but the elevator came and they got on board. Ranger looked up and met my eyes. I saw the realization hit him in that split second as the doors closed. Here was the first test, for both of us.

I stood there and waited for what seemed like forever. He didn't come back. I turned to go back to my cubicle. I had the feeling that it was gonna be a long night. My cell phone rang, and I pulled it off my hip. Tank wanted me in the Comm Room ASAP.

I walked in and Tank ushered me into a chair in front of a monitor and helped me adjust a headset. The monitor showed the GPS tracking system of a vehicle. The numbers on the bottom of the screen designated it as Ranger's. Tank spoke into his mike, looked at me and winked.

"Hey Babe. You there?"

Yeah, Ranger. Are you okay? What's going on?"

"Eddie called. They matched those prints to Carole Ann. They're going to pick her up now, and RangeMan has been invited along. I should have come and told you. We're gonna have to work out a learning curve."

"Well, I suppose I can give you a pass just this once. Is she really that dangerous? You guys went out of here loaded for bear?"

"You never know, Babe. RangeMan is always prepared for anything."

"My boy scouts. Please be careful and don't get shot."

"I won't. Try not to go too crazy. We're almost to her apartment. We're just observers here, so don't worry."

"Okay." I stay on with him, and in two minutes they found out that Carole Ann wasn't home. The closets were empty and her car was gone. It looked like she cleared out in a hurry. Ranger was meeting with the TPD and told me to go to bed and get some sleep.

That sounded like an excellent idea. I showered and changed into my Snoopy T-shirt and panties and climbed into bed, falling instantly asleep. Sometime later, I felt Ranger crawl into bed beside me. I heard him chuckle softly and whisper, "Good night, Snoopy." He kissed Snoopy's out stretched paws, that covered my nipples and sent delicious shivers through my body. He pulled me against him and my hand drifted down his chest to his abs and lower still, until he took hold of it and brought it up to his lips for a kiss. He groaned slightly, "Only 29 more days to go, God help me!" I drifted back to sleep, smiling.

I awoke to find that Ranger was already gone. He left me a note in the kitchen saying that he had an urgent meeting in NYC but that he would be back in time to go with me to the deposition. I called Ella and asked for coffee. I didn't think that my stomach would tolerate breakfast; I was already nervous.

Our appointment with Karvic's lawyers and the investigators from the IAD was for four o'clock. I spent the morning working on my regular searches and didn't even stop for lunch since my stomach had butterflies the size of pterodactyls flapping around in it. The thought of sitting in the same room as Karvic had me more rattled than I wanted to admit, even to myself.

I had a constant parade of Merry Men stopping by to check on me. Haver came into my cubicle to chat. He decided that it wouldn't benefit me to go over any more questions. He knew that I was unnerved, and didn't want to add to my stress.

"Haver, I realize that this fear I have is irrational. I don't know why I can't shake it. My spidey sense is at work and I just know that something's wrong."

Haver reached over and took my hand. "Listen. I'm going to arrange extra security for our little trip. During the questioning, if Karvic is there, I want you to ignore him as if he doesn't exist. Look at the lawyer or look at me. He has no right to speak to you, but that doesn't mean he won't try to throw you." I nodded my agreement.

"Don't give him the benefit of knowing that he's gotten to you. He'll only use it to his advantage. We finally got an original copy of his files from Jersey City. He's been accused of using strong arm and intimidation tactics against witnesses in several investigations up there. We know what he's capable of, so let's not give him the opportunity, all right?"

"You got it. He's a cocky SOB and I don't want to feed that ego. I want him to fall so hard that when he hits the ground he makes a dent."

"I'm proud of you, Stephanie."

Ranger's apartment was a haven of cool and calm. I laid out my red suit, black mock turtle neck, and boots. I took my undies into the bathroom with me and took a quick shower. I slicked my hair up into a twist and went light on the make up. I was going for professional and sophisticated. I stepped out into the bedroom to find Ranger on the bed, hands behind his head and ankles crossed. We had done this before. Except the last time, I'd been wearing his robe and he'd worn more than just his cargos.

He gave me his wolf grin and crooked a finger at me. I smiled back and shook my head no. "I have an appointment in an hour, mister. This hair and makeup don't do themselves, ya know. We still have 29 days to go. So if there's not gonna be a payoff, no hanky panky!"

"You are a cruel woman. Then you're gonna have to stop walking around here half naked. You're way too tempting."

I dressed while Ranger showered, but when he came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped low on his hips, I was willing to concede that 29 days was waaaaay too long. As he walked past me, I snatched the towel off him. He just grinned and waggled his eyebrows at me as I watched his beautiful ass disappear into the dressing room. "If I have to suffer, you do too, Babe."

"Conceited bastard!" I yelled after him. I heard him laugh from the dressing room. God, I loved that sound.

I was touching up my lipstick when Ranger came out fully dressed. Charcoal grey suit, lighter grey shirt and tie, hair tied back. I gave him a wolf whistle and he returned the favor.

"What's the occasion? Do you have a meeting tonight?"

"No, no meeting. I thought that we could go to dinner tonight. I made reservations at Rossini's." He leaned against the door frame and watched as I tried to put on my handcuff necklace. My hands were shaking and I couldn't fasten it. He watched me struggle for a moment, then took it from my hands, and fastened it around my neck for me. He took my shaky hands and kissed them. "Where are your earrings, Babe?"

"I don't have any with me but that's okay, I don't need 'em."

Ranger went to the dresser and took out a leather box, opened it and took his diamond studs and turned to put them in my ears. "Oh no! If I lose them, I'll never be able to buy you another pair. Ranger, my earrings aren't even real Cubic Zirconia, I got 'em on clearance at Macy's for $9.99! I can't wear these! Ohhhh!" I looked at the diamonds, winking in my ears. I think I had just been converted to the joys of jewelry. They were beautiful! Ranger grinned and kissed the back of my neck.

"Come on, Babe. Everybody's waiting for us in the garage." He took my hand and we left the apartment. When we got on the elevator, he pulled me against him, my back to his front, his arms around my waist. I leaned back into him and I knew I was safe. I also knew that we were on camera, and he was sending a message, "Mine." I didn't mind that at all.

Since RangeMan had found out that Carole Ann was the hacker, and Silvio had found out how she got into the system, it was decided that there had been no real threat against RangeMan. The lockdown had been lifted. Of course, there was still a threat against me since Carole Ann was on the run. No trace had been found of her. RangeMan would use it's considerable resources to try to locate her, and the TPD had her on their 'wanted for questioning' list. Until she was found, the threat against me would stand and all precautions would be taken.

So we all hopped into RangeMan SUVs, Haver in one, me in another, Ranger in his Mercedes. Cal and Ram rode with me, as my bodyguards. Off we went to the police station. Woody drove and the guys kept up a stream of chatter to amuse and distract me, knowing how much I was looking forward to a face to face with Karvic.

We pulled into the secured police parking lot, right up to the stairs that led to the back door. The guys got out, scoped out the area while Ranger came around to help me out of the SUV and hustle me inside. Eddie was waiting for us, and hugged and kissed me. He told us that Carole Ann had been apprehended by the New York State Police at the Canadian border. TPD representatives were on their to interview her in upstate New York. Ranger squeezed my hand and smiled at me. One less crazy after me!

We went into a private interview room, set aside for lawyers to use. No 'eavesdropping' devices, no two-way mirrors, just plain grey walls, a small conference type table, straight back chairs, a male stenographer, two lawyers, two cops from IAD, a clerk, Haver, me ... and Karvic. Everyone stood when I entered the room, except Karvic. Big surprise. He sat, slouched in a chair, in the far corner of the room. He looked at me and the corner of his mouth came up into a smirk. He never looked away from me and he never blinked.

Introductions were made all around, leaving Karvic out. We began immediately. I was informed that everything would be recorded. The clerk swore me in. I was asked to state and spell my name and address and the questions began. They covered just about everything Haver had. Whom did I work for, how long, what was my job description, what training had I had? How many hours a week did I spend in the field, had I ever done any investigative work, what kind of research did I do, how computer literate was I? By the time they were finished, they knew every detail of my background except my preferred method of birth control, and they probably had that on file someplace anyway.

Once they had all the background covered, they started on 'The Incident,' as they so politely called it. Haver nodded with each question that was asked, allowing me to answer. Who set up the distraction, when had I been informed that I would take part, who was involved, when did I get the information on the skip? Who chose my clothing, who gave me the 'job description' for working at The Wharf, how did I get there, how long was I there, had I ever been there before, did I know any of the customers? What was the set up, how was the takedown supposed to work, when did I make contact with my skip, why was I going outside with a customer that wasn't the skip? I explained, described, and answered to the best of my ability.

Karvic sat, still slouched in his chair. His body language said that he was relaxed and at ease, but his hawk eyes took in everything, and never left my face. He was the predator and I was his prey. I suppressed the shudder that was begging to run through me. Ranger was right outside the door. Haver was here next to me. I was safe. Karvic knew this, but he was sending me the message that they couldn't keep me safe forever.

Lawyer #1, Milton Champsky, asked me to describe, with as much detail as possible, 'The Incident'. I started with me walking out the door with Cal, and told it all. When I got to the part about Karvic grinding into my backside, I couldn't help notice that Karvic uncrossed his legs. He sat with his legs apart and he ran his hand over his crotch, all the while giving me a leering smile. This wasn't lost on Haver, who immediately halted the proceedings and lodged a complaint against Karvic. The two cops from IAD exchanged knowing glances and shook their heads, obviously at Karvic's chutzpah and stupidity.

Lawyer #2, Carmine Supo, took Karvic aside and read him the riot act. Not that it did any good, if the expression on his face was any indication. Karvic turned to me and licked his lips, "Sorry, Sweet Lips. That's just the way you affect me. Remember, we still have a date!" And he threw back his head and laughed. Haver stood and announced that this interview was over.

He took me by the elbow and escorted me out of the room, into Ranger's waiting arms, then went back inside. The expression on Ranger's face was so dark that I knew he had to have heard what had been said. Sure enough, there was a tiny device in his ear. I looked at him questioningly, and he mouthed, 'Later,' to me. I shouldn't be surprised, I had forgotten who I was dealing with here. He held my hand and drew me down the hall, away from the interview room.

"I'm going to Uncle Mike's office. I need to talk to Stella to see of she knows about any connection between Karvic and Carole Ann." Ranger nodded and we went through the station, holding hands.

Ranger opened the door to the Chief's outer office and ushered me in. Stella was sitting at her desk but when she saw us, she jumped up and almost ran to me, throwing her arms around me in a huge hug. "Oh my God, Stephanie, I heard. Are you all right? I'm so sorry. The Chief isn't here. Do you need me to get in touch with him?" Stella looked past me to Ranger, and gave him a polite smile and nod. They had met many times when he came to meet with the Chief. He smiled back and she blushed a pretty pink.

I hugged her back. "Yes, thank you Stella. I'm fine. And no, I came to talk to you."

"Me?" She looked pleased. "Why do you want to speak with me?"

"Well, we need some information and you're the person who knows everything about everything." She gave me a knowing smile. "Do you know of any connection between Vincent Karvic and Carole Ann Polesek? All the hacking and the tapes, everything traces back to her and I'm trying to find out why she'd be helping Karvic. Any ideas?"

Stella thought about this for a minute. "Well, Carole Ann and I weren't particularly close, but rumor had it that there was a new man in her life, although no one knew who he was. So maybe ... ?" She left the rest of the sentence hang and gave a small shrug.

"If you hear any talk now that all this is coming out, would you please give me a call?"

"Certainly, Stephanie, anything that I can do to help." She put her hand on my cheek, and patted it.

I thanked her and hugged her goodbye, and Ranger and I went to the back door to wait for Haver. Not surprisingly, he was waiting for us, still doing a slow simmer. The deposition would be postponed indefinitely. All other investigation would be completed first, and the decision made at that time as to whether or not my input was necessary at all. They already had irrefutable proof of Karvic's wrongdoing. The only reason for me to be here in the first place was the hope that I would be so rattled, that I'd drop the complaint. No way in hell was that gonna happen. I had come here scared, now I was mad! Payback's a bitch and I was just the bitch to pay him back!

Wearing my new found courage, I told Ranger and Haver that I would tolerate no more babysitting or body guards, so the Merry Men were sent home. Carole Ann was caught, Karvic was being tailed, I was safe. Ranger and I were going to dinner and damn it, I was gonna enjoy myself. Haver pushed the back door open and I stepped out and almost slammed into Morelli who was walking in. Our little group stood on the steps for a minute while we brought Joe up to speed on the latest developments.

As Ranger, Haver and I approached the Mercedes, Joe yelled over to me. "Hey Cupcake. How about lunch tomorrow? Pino's at 1?"

"Okay Joe, see ya then!" Ranger looked at me with raised eyebrows and I stuck my tongue out at him. Haver, his hand at the small of my back, just grinned at us. I turned back, to look at Joe. I heard a small 'pop, pop'. I saw a puff of smoke come off the wall next to Joe's head, and he hit the ground. He yelled, "Stephanie! Get down!"

Everything happened so fast! I half turned to see Haver fall to his knees. He had a bright red stain blooming on his chest, blood seeping through his fingers. A second later, another 'pop' and all the windows exploded in the Mercedes, the glass flying everywhere; Ranger spinning away from it. I caught a glimpse of a car out of the corner of my eye, the driver's window cracked, a glint of light off the barrel of a gun. I followed where it was aimed ... Ranger. I turned and saw him running toward me, gun in hand, calling to me to get down. I stepped in front of him, to push him out of the line of fire. Another 'pop'. Something hit me in the back ... hard. The force threw me forward, into Ranger's chest and he wrapped his arms around me.

The world moved in slow motion ... like watching a movie frame by frame. His beautiful face, blood dripping down, the sound of screeching tires, my legs wouldn't hold me ... voices ... it was hard to breathe ... the slow slide to the ground ...

Babe? ... Babe? ...

I can't breathe ... it's getting dark ... his beautiful face ... his face ...

Babe? ...

TBC ...

Thank you for all the wonderful reviews and comments, please keep 'em coming! Ranger and I are going on vacation for a week. The next chapter, #20, will be posted 2 weeks from today.


	20. Dead Fish!

Disclaimer: Anybody you recognize belongs to Janet Evanovich. Anybody new is mine all mine, except Christie who's the real deal.

Warnings: All 12 books, language, SMUT, bad writing, you name it, you've been warned!

A/N: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews, you blow my mind! Thank you, Christie, for Smut Ed! Ranger is rested and relaxed and ready for action ... whoo-hooo!

As The Worm Turns!

Chapter 20: Dead Fish!

The sound came from far away. Gradually it got closer and closer. The friggin' clock radio beeping at me. I didn't have the energy to lift my arm and knock it on the floor to shut it up. God, my head hurts! Everything hurts! I couldn't seem to make my eyes open. Nothing would cooperate. It hurt to breathe. There was something sitting on my chest and it wouldn't let me take a deep breath. The pain radiated from my back and when I inhaled, my breath caught in my throat. I choked a little and the cough made my chest explode in pain. I know I whimpered.

A gentle hand stroked my forehead and a soft voice said, "Easy, Babe. I know it hurts. Just stay still. Everything's gonna be just fine. Shhhh, Babe. Go back to sleep. I'm right here with you." Soft lips on my forehead, butterfly kisses on my lips. "Sleep, Baby, va a dormir, Bebe, shhhhhh. Estoy aqui con usted, usted es segura. Estoy aqui. Te amo, Bebe. Te amo." (Go to sleep, Baby. I'm here with you, you're safe. I'm here. I love you, Baby. I love you.)

I clutched at his hand and he wove his fingers through mine. The fear and pain drifted away on his voice, carrying me off to a safe place. We were in his bed and he had his lips against my temple, whispering to me. I tried to catch the words but they slipped away. I felt my body start to relax and I let myself sleep.

Minutes or hours or days later, the alarm woke me again. "Ranger?" My throat was dry and I couldn't catch my breath.

"Hey Baby Girl. How ya doin'?" Tank whispering. He held a straw to my lips. "Here take a sip, the water will help your throat. Slowly, Baby, slowly."

It tasted better than anything I ever had in my life. "Tank? Where's Ranger? I need Ranger!" My voice came out in a sob. What's Tank doing in my bedroom?

"Yeah, Baby Girl, I'm right here. Ranger went to check on Haver. He'll be back in a minute." I felt him pick up my hand and squeeze it. I heard him tell somebody to go find Ranger, now! "How do you feel, Bombshell?"

"Please turn off the alarm, Tank. I don't wanna get up yet. I don't feel so good. I hurt and I can't open my eyes. Why can't I open my eyes?" I was just so tired.

"Hold on, Baby Girl." I heard him walk away, and water running, and his footsteps coming back. "I'm gonna wash your face, it's warm, it'll help." He gently ran the cloth over my face, paying special attention to my eyes, and down my neck.

My eyes cracked open, the light burning them and making them tear up. Tank wiped my eyes again. I looked around, a little disoriented. I wasn't in my bedroom, I was in the hospital, and the beeping was a monitor. This was so not good!

Oh God! Everything came flooding back. Joe, falling to the ground. Haver, the blood leaking out of his chest, Ranger, the blood ... Ranger I had to find Ranger! I jerked up in the bed and was slammed back down by a wave of pain so intense that I screamed. I felt like I had been shot in the back. Ohhhh, that's what it was, I had been shot in the back.

Gentle hands held my shoulders down and wiped my tears. Tank's voice told me to breath through my nose. Take little breaths. Somebody put an oxygen cannula in my nose, I opened my eyes to see the nurse, bustling around my bed, checking the IV.

"Nice to see you awake, Stephanie, but you have to stay still. Do you have any dizziness or nausea? No? Good. How's your pain level? We'll take care of that in a few minutes. I've paged your doctor, he should be here shortly. I know it's hard, but try to relax and breath evenly, that'll help." She smiled as she popped a thermometer in my mouth and took my pulse and blood pressure.

A very short man in a white coat and scrubs walked quickly into the room and grabbed the chart from the nurse's hands, flipping through the pages. "Miss Plum, I'm Doctor Hamilton, I admitted you when you arrived earlier. How are you feeling? Nausea? Dizziness? Are you experiencing any weakness in your limbs? Any difficulty breathing?" I opened my mouth to answer, but he whipped out a stethoscope to listen to my lungs and shushed me. Then he told me to sit up. "Miss Plum, if you refuse to cooperate, how do you expect us to help you? Now please, sit up! Nurse, sit the patient up, now!"

Nurse MacNamara, standing on the other side of the bed, narrowed her eyes and looked at the man. "Doctor Hamilton, Miss Plum only regained consciousness a few minutes ago. She is still disoriented and in pain. If you will notice, the pain meds administered at the time of her admission have worn off, and she is in a great deal of discomfort. She is not capable of sitting up unaided." Nurse MacNamara stood with one hand on her hip as she slowly elevated the head of the bed and spoke to the doctor like he was a slow 6 year old.

I looked at Tank who stood a few feet away, silent and glaring at the smaller man. The doctor turned to walk around the bed and stopped short when he ran into Tank. He raised his eyes from the chart and realized that he was looking at Tank's navel. The good doctor rolled his eyes up to Tank's face and really gave a great impersonation of somebody looking up a Giant Sequoia. "And you would be ... who?" His voiced cracked.

"Next of kin." Was all Tank growled. The doctor paled and I started to laugh, but it hurt so much it ended in a sob. Tank bent down, hands on knees, to look him in the eye. "She hurts. Fix it."

The wide eyed doctor just nodded his head, pulled out his pen and quickly scribbled on the chart without ever taking his eyes off Tank's scowling face. "We certainly don't want Miss Plum to experience any unnecessary discomfort." He held out the chart to Nurse MacNamara who took it with a smug smile and a wink at me. "I will be back for the examination when the pain medication is in effect to minimize her pain." He turned and scurried out of the room. I think I heard him give a little squeak when he ran into Ram and Cal out the hall.

Nurse MacNamara patted my hand and told me that she'd be right back with my pain meds. Thirty minutes later I had a happy little buzz on. I loved Nurse MacNamara, I loved Dr. Hamilton, I loved Tanky, I loved the world. I was drunk on pain meds. Tanky can tell you what kind of a drunk I make, so it was no surprise that when Ranger came back into my room, I took one look at him and burst into tears. I was apparently blubbering something about my ass hanging out of the hospital gown, the doctor being mean to me, and that Tanky wouldn't take me to MacDonald's.

He held his arms out to me as he crossed the room and gently took me into them, laughing softly. "Oh my poor Babe. It's gonna be alright. He brushed the hair out of my face and wiped my tears away with his thumbs. "Babe, you have the most beautiful ass in town, everybody wants to see it. We'll send Tanky to MacDonald's, and then I'll kick the doctor around the block for you. Is that okay?" I nodded tearfully and snuffled. I was feeling noooo pain.

I should probably tell you that I have no independent recollection of any of this. I have since been told about it, repeatedly, by Tank, by Cal, by Lester, by Ram, by my sister, by my mother, by Rose Santorelli, who heard it from her next door neighbor's daughter-in-law's butcher's second cousin's dog groomer ... you get the picture. Just one more Bombshell Bounty Hunter story to add to the collection. Just one more humiliation to live down.

Thankfully, I fell asleep again and when I woke up I was no longer high as a kite but I really didn't remember anything but hearing Ranger's voice. It was the middle of the night when I opened my eyes to find Ranger was sitting in a chair that he had pulled up next to the bed. His head was tipped back and his eyes were closed but he was holding my hand, absently running his fingers back and forth over it. I was laying on my good side with pillows behind me for support.

"Hey Babe." He looked so tired, the fine lines around his eyes had deepened, from the stress I'm sure. "How do you feel?"

I tested my body. "My back hurts and it's hard to breath and I just want to go home." Whispering was easier than talking out loud. It hurt less.

"They came and took you for another set of x-rays that you slept right through." He gave me a small smile. "If they're clear, I get to take you home in the morning."

When he moved closer, into the light from the wall over the bed, I could see two little butterfly bandages on his forehead. I raised my hand and ran my fingers down his cheek. "Are you okay?" He took my hand in both of his and kissed the palm, holding it to his cheek.

"I'm tired but grateful that everybody is alive. I want to take you home and tuck you into bed and wrap myself around you and sleep for a week."

"I think that's a wonderful idea." I hesitated. "Ranger. I don't think I remember what happened. Not everything at least."

"What do you remember, Babe?"

I thought for a moment. "Faces. I remember faces. And blood. Joe had blood on his face. And Haver. He looked ... surprised. There was all this blood on his hand and you had blood on your face and there was a car and a gun in the window and it was pointed at you and that popping sound ... and ... and somebody hit me in the back and you caught me ... Oh God ... " I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to erase the images.

I think I started to panic because I couldn't catch my breath. I wanted to run, but I didn't know where. My heart was hammering in my chest and I was trembling. The shaking made my back hurt. The pain made me cry and the sobbing caused pain in my chest. I was caught in a vicious circle that I couldn't seem to break.

Ranger got out of his chair and sat on the bed next to me. He ran his hands through my hair and over my shoulders and arms. His lips were pressed against my forehead and he spoke in a hushed tone, telling me that I was safe, and he was here with me. He ran his fingertips up and down my arm hypnotically, telling me to relax, that everybody was alive and well and it was all over.

Slowly, I caught my breath and the pain leveled out. My head cleared and Ranger's words, that everyone was alive, finally filtered through. I calmed and I could feel my heart rate slow, the pounding in my ears finally faded.

"How is Haver? Will he be alright?"

"Haver was hit in the chest and he had damage to one lung. The bullet bounced around in there and he's had two surgeries so far. But, don't worry, he's going to be just fine. He'll have a long recuperation period, but we'll send him on a nice long vacation to relax and heal."

"Ranger, he almost died, didn't he?" Ranger just nodded, but didn't say anything.

"Joe got a small scrape from a piece of brick that caught him on the cheek when a bullet hit the wall. I got my war wounds from flying glass." He took a shuddering breath. "You got hit in the back but your vest absorbed most of the impact. You have two cracked ribs so you'll be bruised and sore for a couple of weeks."

"Thank you for making me wear the vest." I knew that it had probably saved my life. "Do they know who it was? Did they catch him?" He kissed me on the forehead before he started to speak and pulled back and studied my face, running his fingers over my cheek and wiping away tears I didn't realize that I had shed.

"They think it was Carole Ann, Babe. She aimed at Joe and Haver and me, but not you." Ranger took a deep, ragged breath and cupped my face with his hands. "You were hit when you stepped in front of me. You took the bullet that was meant for me." There was something in his voice that I had never heard before, a depth of emotion that seemed to shake him.

I put one hand on his wrist, my other was still tethered to the IV. "Hey! I couldn't let anybody take you away from me. Not now that we finally decided to give 'us' a chance. I can't lose you ... not now, not ever. Promise me that no matter what, you'll always be part of my life ... promise me!"

"I promise, Babe. No matter what. Friends, lovers, no matter what you call us, we're tied together forever. I'll never let you go." He kissed me gently on the forehead and eyelids, cheeks and chin, and finally soft, lazy kisses on my mouth.

Ranger got up off the bed and came around to the other side. He toed off his boots and untucked his shirt, then removed the pillows at my back and replaced them with his own chest. He slipped his arm under my pillow and I snuggled against him. "Just sleep, Babe. We'll talk about it all tomorrow."

He wrapped his arm protectively around my waist and we relaxed against each other. His breathing became deep and even. I was just about to drift off when Nurse MacNamara came quietly into the room. Ranger came awake immediately and moved to sit up. The nurse patted him on the shoulder and whispered, "You're just fine." She came to my side of the bed and did the temperature and blood pressure thing, listened to my lungs and made me cough a couple of times. She pulled the blanket up from the foot of the bed, covering both of us, and closed the door on her way out.

When I woke again, the sun was streaming through the window and my breakfast tray was sitting on the table next to me. Bobby was sitting in the chair by the bed and Lester was leaning against the window frame, looking out.

"Hey guys. How long have you been on duty?" I went to run my hands through my hair and realized that I couldn't lift my left arm and don't let anybody ever try to tell you that it doesn't hurt to yawn when you have cracked ribs! The IV was gone, though, so that was something, at least.

"Hey Bombshell," Lester was all smiles as he turned to me. "You ready to go home? We came to spring you."

"Where's Ranger?"

"He's signing your release papers, Bomber. Ella sent you some clothes so that you don't have to flash Trenton on your way out. We heard that you were worried about that." He grinned hugely and I groaned in embarrassment.

Bobby got up and was leaning over the bed. "You hungry?" He pulled the table over the bed and lifted the cover off the plate. Great big, strong, ex-military men can eat anything, dead or alive, but Bobby shuddered when he saw the plate and a look of horror passed over his face. "Good God Almighty! I can't even identify that slop! What the hell do you eat for breakfast that's grey?" He flipped open his phone and called Ella, putting in an order for a breakfast big enough to feed a small army.

Ranger came back into the room, papers in hand. "Okay, Babe, let's blow this place." Bobby and Lester waited out in the hall so Ranger could help me dress in the undies, loose sweat pants and hoodie that Ella had sent. He was telling me about Haver as he untied my hospital gown but when it fell to the floor, he was suddenly quiet. He was silent for a long time, looking at my back. Then he ran the tips of his fingers over the bruise from the bullet.

Ranger put his arms around me and held me gently against his chest, his lips against my temple. His voice was ragged when he whispered, "Jesus Christ, Stephanie. It would have gone straight through your heart." We stood like that for a long minute, until I shivered and we both realized that I was naked. "I'm sorry, Babe. Let's get you dressed and outta here."

I was stiff and sore and couldn't lift my left arm more than a few inches. I pretty much felt like I had been hit by a truck. I was wrapped from right under my boobs down about 6 inches. The doctor said it was for support for a couple of days but I could get rid of the wrapping whenever I felt like it. Right now it helped, I think. I also had to cough a couple of times an hour so that I wouldn't develop pneumonia, and practice deep breathing. What fun!

When I was ready, Lester brought in the wheelchair that the hospital insisted on. "Your chariot awaits, Milady!" he joked when he saw the look of displeasure on my face. Ranger helped me sit and off we went. On the way out, we stopped to see Haver who had just been moved from the ICU into a private room. He was pretty drugged up, but seemed to know that I was there. Tank was sitting watch with Haver, and Ram was on guard outside his door. At least two RangeMen would be with him until he was released. His family was on the way from Atlanta and would be here shortly, but even after they arrived, RangeMen would stand guard over one of their own.

Instead of going out the front door, we took the elevator into the bowels of the hospital. I was rushed out through the kitchen and service areas and into a big, black SUV that sat in a delivery bay. It seemed that reporters and photographers and TV crews were waiting for me at the front door. A shooting at the TPD was big news. That group probably included my favorite stalker, the little ferret who first named me 'The Bombshell Bounty Hunter.' If I had blown up a car or something like that, I could understand the fascination but, gimme a break, this was a horror and the weasel wanted to make a buck off it and me. But I sure as hell wasn't gonna help him do it, and neither was anybody else!

I understand that Rat-Boy snuck into the hospital last night and had gotten his hands on a white lab coat. He made it all the way up to the waiting room on this floor before he was recognized. Eddie had nailed him when he snuck into the jail to try to get a picture of me in the holding tank the night of my 'visit' there. Eddie recognized him again last night as he was trying to get into my room, camera in hand. I'm told that Tank and Cal had a little 'chat' with the Slimeball, suggesting he might want to find a new line of work, like picking up road kill. Sounds right up his alley, as far as I'm concerned. I hear that this little talk was held eye to eye, with the Ferret's feet dangling more than a foot off the floor and his face a lovely shade of blue. Rumor has it that something awful happened to another one of his cameras. I love my friends!

The trip back to Haywood was uneventful. Lester teased Bobby unmercifully for driving like an old woman until Ranger reminded him that they were carrying precious cargo. I didn't think that he had let go of my hand since he saw the bruise on my back. I could feel his eyes on me, staring at me with that unreadable face of his. I didn't understand why he was so surprised that I would put his life before mine. He would do the same for me in a heartbeat. I had a feeling that our relationship had just entered a whole new dimension.

We got up to the 7th floor to find the apartment filled with Merry Men. I was overwhelmed by the smell of food as soon as we opened the door. Because of the nerves over yesterday's deposition, and then the shooting and all, I hadn't eaten since the night before last. For a girl who never misses a meal, I was just this side of wasting away to nothing! Okay, so I'm exaggerating! But Ella had outdone herself with breakfast and there was a party atmosphere in the dining room and kitchen. They had all waited for us to arrive before they started to eat, so I was immediately drawn into the celebration. Ranger morphed into bodyguard mode. He made sure that nobody hugged me and that my plate was always full. I had gotten lots of kisses and Belgian waffles, bacon, fruit, juice, coffee and anything else I could stuff in my face. I felt like a new woman. A fat and happy new woman!

The party had wound down and everybody had left when the front door opened and Ram sang out, "Company!" He ushered Christie and Joe into the dining room and then went back to the Comm Room with a plate of Ella's homemade pastries. Ella bustled about, bringing Joe and Christie coffee and breakfast. Joe had a small bandage on his cheek and looked like death warmed over. I was sure he hadn't had any sleep, and he looked like he needed a shower and shave, as well. He bent over me to kiss the top of my head and gave me a gentle hug when he first came in. He held on to me longer than necessary, and whispered, "Never forget that I love you, Cupcake." None of this was lost on Ranger who watched the whole exchange wearing his blank face.

Christie had heard about my spidey sense and talked to me about helping investigate a possible connection between Karvic and a gun running fiasco in Jersey City. Someone had tried to crash the local operation and a number of Jersey City gang members had been killed in a territorial war. The gang had tried to muscle in on the local Family who were the acknowledged 'go to' people for illegal firearms. The gang members who had been killed were the gophers, the ring leader had disappeared and there were no clues as to who he was. Christie thought I might be able to zero in on something that had been missed.

There was a very real possibility that a similar situation might arise here in Trenton. The Ramos family, the 'Guns R Us" of Trenton, would broach no interference in their operation. Christie thought that RangeMan's connections and informants, the people who have their ears to the ground, so to speak, might have heard something that could give us that connection to Karvic. Considering what we had seen at The Wharf with Karvic and local gang members, it was a good bet that he was trying to get the same thing started here.

Ranger and I looked at each other. Awhile back, when Ranger was FTA, I had made the acquaintance of Alexander Ramos, who had a special place in his heart for me. Ranger and I both knew that if an 'in' was needed to the Ramos Family, I had it. Whether or not I needed it, or used it, remained to be seen. I didn't tell Christie about the connection. I would use it only if absolutely necessary. A change of subject was in order.

"So, Joe, what did you find out from Carole Ann? Did she give you enough information to incriminate Karvic? What's their connection, anyway? Did she admit to hacking into RangeMan?" I couldn't stand being outside the loop and waiting to be filled in was killing me.

I watched as Joe looked over at Ranger with an unasked question on his face. Ranger responded with a shake of his head. I looked back at Joe who had his eyes fixed on the table, running the tips of his fingers over his forehead. It was Joe's 'deep in thought' pose.

Ranger touched my shoulder. "Let's all go into the living room and talk there." He helped me out of the chair and took my hand, leading me to the couch and helping me to sit, arranging pillows at my back. Joe and Christie followed and sat in the chairs across the coffee table from us.

Ranger and Joe exchanged another look. This time Joe nodded. The gift of ESP was something that all RangeMen seemed to share. Now, it looked like it was extending outside that circle, and I still wasn't included. "What?" I yelled it. "Just tell me!"

Ranger took my hand and held it tightly. Joe took a deep breath and blew it out noisily then looked me in the eyes, something he had been avoiding since this whole bizarre silent conversation started.

"Steph, what's the last thing you remember?"

I thought for a second or two. "Falling and Ranger catching me. I remember that I had trouble breathing. That's it."

"Okay. Remember, none of us had any idea who was in that car. I crawled off the back steps and I went for the car. I needed to stop the shooter before he did any more damage. I almost reached the door handle when the car peeled out. Nobody could get off a shot at it because everybody just poured out of the station into the parking lot. There was too much chance of hitting one of our own. Cops were helping you and Haver. There were EMTs in the building, they were out there, too.

"Anyhow, I chased the car out into the street but I only got off 2 clean shots. One took out the back window, and it looks like the other may have hit the gas tank."

"Carl was coming down the street toward the lot and passed the car when the call went out. He hacked a 180, I jumped in and we took off after the shooter. We still didn't even know how many were in the car. You'd think you couldn't have a chase in rush hour traffic. God, it was a mess." Joe scrubbed his hands over his face and then ran them through his hair.

"At some point, I'm not sure when, Eddie got ahead of the car and actually stood in the middle of the street with his gun aimed right at the driver. It was like a game of chicken. He couldn't shoot, there were too many innocent bystanders around. He jumped out of the way at the last second or he would have been run down. She wasn't stopping for anybody or anything."

"She went over sidewalks, through red lights, she hit pedestrians and other vehicles, took out the news stand at 4th and Broad. She just didn't care. You've heard of suicide by cop, where somebody forces a police officer to kill them? I'm convinced that's what she had in mind." The strain of the whole incident showed on his face and in his voice. Ranger always said that Joe was a good man with a shitty job. This was proof positive of that statement.

"All told, there were 11 cars from a couple different agencies, City, County, and State, involved in the chase. We closed off streets, used tack strips, tried to tag the car, nothing worked. We finally were able to herd her down by the storage yards under the Rt 1 bridge. We thought we had her cornered, but she never stopped." He paused for a second and shook his head ever so slightly, like he was seeing it all over again. "She just floored it and headed for the bridge. She must have been doing close to 90 when she hit. She went full tilt into that bridge abutment and the car just ... disintegrate. She never stood a chance, but it didn't look like she wanted one."

He was quiet for a full minute while we all digested what he had told us. He had to clear his throat before he spoke again, but sounded much more like 'in control' Joe.

"We were all sure who it was. But we didn't get a positive ID until late this morning. She was alone in the car. It was all planned out in advance, Steph. She mailed a letter to the Chief, explaining everything. Stella opened it this morning. It detailed her whole plan and said that she intended to kill herself after it was done. Looks like it almost worked out the way she wanted. She wanted to kill people, and she did. Just not the people she had targeted."

Joe looked so pale and tired. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, probably hadn't. He'd been sitting with his elbows on his knees, hands loosely folded, now he leaned back and slouched in the chair, rubbing his forehead.

I finally processed what he said, and a bolt of fear shot through me. "What aren't you telling me, Joe? I know you too well, I know there's more. Say it."

Joe didn't say anything, just looked at Ranger, who lifted my hand and kissed it. "Babe, Carole Ann was trying to get rid of the people who were important to you. She was going to go on killing. Nobody would have been safe."

"So I was right all along. This was revenge for bringing in her brother when he was FTA. I brought this on everybody." Realization dawned on me. "Oh God, she was gonna go after my family, wasn't she. Oh God, oh God!" I started to rock and the tears that welled up in my eyes spilled down my face. I pulled my hand out of Ranger's and struggled up off the couch. "You said she hit pedestrians. Joe, how many?" When he didn't answer I screamed at him, "How many? Tell me how many people she killed because of me?"

Joe stood up and wrapped his arms around me, just holding me up and letting me cry. "Three dead, three in critical condition, one not expected to make it, two in fair, two in good, and I don't know how many treat and release. It wasn't your fault, Steph. You were just doing your job." He put his cheek against my hair and rocked me gently from side to side, trying to comfort me.

My chest was exploding and I had to fight to take in the air I needed. I was on physical and emotional overload, a never-ending roller coaster ride. The last couple of weeks had been nothing but a series of high and lows, with no middle ground at all, no chance to catch my breath. I really didn't think I could take any more, I didn't want to take any more. I realized that I had a choice to make. I could give in, let it overwhelm me and drown in it, or I could fight. I had always been a fighter, I couldn't stop now!

I managed to pull myself together and stepped out of Joe's arms. Ranger was standing right behind me, and Christie next to him. I had been surrounded by a wall of support and had drawn on their strength.

"I'm sorry that I lost it, guys. I guess I'm a little tapped out." Tears were still streaming down my face, but at least I wasn't completely out of it any more.

"Don't even think of apologizing, Steph." Christie said. "Considering everything that's happened, you're entitled to a few tears. Look, I'm not sure you're up to working on this research today. We can always start tomorrow. Joe and I have some things to look into this afternoon, so there really won't be any time wasted. And I have my shift to work at The Wharf tonight anyway." She looked at me with a small smile. "Okay?"

"Okay," I said a little reluctantly. "If you're sure. I really don't think I'd be much good today, but I don't want to waste any time. I'm still a little strung out from the pain pills and all this." I waved my hand to indicate what had gone on. "What time tomorrow, 9 am okay?"

"That's fine. I'll bring all the files with me and maybe RangeMan's contacts will be able to come up with some additional street information. We'll go over everything that I've collected and see if your spidey sense tells you anything. We need to find out who the brains behind this operation is if we're going to have any chance of shutting the whole thing down. We need to put them out of business for good."

We said our good byes and I just stood by the door, too tired to even walk. Ranger wrapped me in his arms and I wound mine around his waist and sagged against him, just trying to absorb some of his strength. He leaned back, cupped my face in his hand, and kissed my eyelids and nose and chin and cheeks and forehead until he made me smile.

"Let's get you in the shower, Babe. Between the tears and the drugs, you look like you've been on a three day bender. You'll feel better when you get cleaned up and get some uninterrupted sleep. Let me get you a pain pill first. Wait right here." He brought me the pill and a bottle of water and we walked back into the living room with our arms around each other's waists.

I couldn't argue with him, he was right. I knew I probably looked like hell and I felt worse. I went into the bathroom, turned on the shower and managed to get most of my clothes off by myself. Ranger had to come in and help me with the hoodie and the bandages around my ribs. I had no bra on, so by the time he finished, I was standing there, naked again. I don't know why, but suddenly, I felt very exposed. I moved to cover myself, but he stopped me. I had my back to him and felt him move closer, the heat radiating off his body. He skimmed his hands over my shoulders and down my arms, taking my hands in his, twining his fingers through mine. He wrapped our joined arms around me. I leaned my head back on his shoulder and closed my eyes.

He brought his face down next to mine, his lips on my temple. "Don't ever cover yourself in front of me, Babe. You have a beautiful body and I have every plane, every curve, every inch of you etched in my memory. I remember how you tasted and how your skin felt like silk. I remember how you moved when you were under me, those noises that you made, that little gasp you gave when I slid into you. I can see how your eyes fluttered closed and the color they turned when I made you come. I remember the sound of my name on you lips. I dream of you like that." I shivered at the memories.

I looked up into his black eyes and, oh yes, he wanted me. What wasn't said was how much I wanted him. All the teasing and torturing that I had heaped on Ranger these last few weeks had only served to whet my appetite for him, too. I wanted to lay in his arms and feel his hands on my body. I wanted his hot mouth on my flesh, sucking and licking and his silken tongue tangled with mine. I wanted him on me and in me. I had only had him for one night, but I knew that I would never have enough of him. All I could have right now, were his arms wrapped around me. But I'd take what I could get and be grateful for it. We stood together like that, just holding on to each other, for long minutes.

What broke our reverie, I don't know, but Ranger straightened and shook his head slightly, as if to clear it. He took my hand and led me to the shower, watching as I stepped into the steamy waterfall. I stood under the water with my eyes closed, just absorbing the heat into my overly sensitized skin. It wasn't a substitute for Ranger's hands but it would have to do. We had made the deal not to have sex while we tried to figure out if we would work. We had given our word. I turned my back and let the water work its' magic on my neck and shoulders, and sighed as I felt the muscles loosen. I opened my eyes to find Ranger watching me, his black eyes fixed on the water streaming between my breasts and down my belly. I felt my nipples contract under his gaze.

I reached for the shampoo and poured a small amount into my hand. Too late I realized that I couldn't lift my arm high enough to work it into my hair. It only took seconds for Ranger to strip out of his clothes and step into the shower behind me. He held my hand and took the shampoo from my palm with his fingertips. He rubbed his hands together and then worked the shampoo into my hair, drawing small, slow, circles over my scalp with the pads of his fingers. I leaned back into his chest and moaned as the erotic sensations washed over me with the water.

He gently turned me to face him and tipped my head back to rinse the shampoo from my hair. His hands were still in my hair when he brought his lips down to mine, his tongue seeking entrance into my mouth. The kiss was slow and deep, our tongues stroking and exploring. I could feel the heat pool in my belly and a flash of desire snaked through me. My hands were on his chest and I brushed my thumbs over his nipples. I felt them pebble under my touch and a shudder passed through his body. The evidence of his desire for me was pressed into my hip. Ranger groaned into my mouth and broke the kiss. I watched him through half closed eyes, my breathing as open mouthed and ragged as his.

His hands dropped to my shoulders and he pushed me back against the shower wall, turning me to face it. I leaned my forehead against the cool tiles, my hands flat on either side of my face. From the shelf beside me, he took a large sea sponge and poured shower gel on it, squeezing until the foaming suds spilled out. Starting at my shoulders, he ran the sponge over me. Shoulders, arms, and back, skimming over the bruise on my ribs, down to my ass. He bent to gently wash the back of my thighs, down to my ankles. Back up between my legs. My hands curled, fingernails scraping the tiles at the sweet torture. He turned the shower head and the soapy water sluiced off me.

He turned me back to face him and I was trembling under his touch. He dropped the sponge and poured the gel into his hands instead. My breath caught in my throat as he skimmed his hands over my neck and shoulders, lower to massage my breasts and belly, lower still. He knelt and lifted one foot onto his knee, running his hands over toes and arch, up my calf and thigh. He placed my foot back on the floor and lifted the other, giving it the same treatment. I closed my eyes as his hands worked their magic on my body.

Putting his hot mouth against the inside of my knee, he ran open mouthed kisses up my thigh, and sank his teeth gently into my hip bones. His tongue ran a trail across my belly and it dipped and swirled into my navel. He kissed his way lower still and found that sweet spot where my leg met my body and when he kissed and sucked that tender flesh into his mouth, I was ready to scream his name. I was panting by the time he nuzzled my curls and placed open mouthed kisses on my mound. He brought his hands to my waist, down over my hips and around to my ass, holding me to him.

I threaded my fingers into his hair and I moaned in anticipation as I thought about what I knew from the one time we'd been together. Ranger made love, and he loved to kiss. And right now, Ranger was kissing everything ...

TBC ...

Thank you for all the wonderful reviews. You guys are sensational! Ranger just loves them, please keep it up. Ohhh, that sounded almost dirty, didn't it? Wink, Wink


	21. Shark Attack!

Disclaimer: Janet Evanovich owns all characters except mine!

Warnings: All 12 books, sex, drugs, rock and roll, bad writing, you name it, you've been warned!

A/N: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews. Ranger just loves them! Please keep 'em coming. Thanks Christie, don't know what I'd do without you!

As The Worm Turns!

Chapter 21: Shark Attack!

I awoke to his hot mouth on my stomach, his tongue French kissing my navel. Silken hair drifted across my skin and sent a delicious shiver through me. I moaned as I rolled over to him but it turned into a groan as I tried to stretch my arms over my head, forgetting that I was still stiff and sore. His soft chuckle made my heart turn over and he peppered my face with kisses, settling finally on my mouth to kiss me long and hard. His tongue stroked mine slowly and deeply and I fisted his hair and held him to me. He moaned into my mouth and desire shot through me.

He broke the kiss and murmured against my lips. "Come on Babe. Let me help you get up off the couch. You need to get into the shower and get cleaned up. Christie will be here in an hour, and much as I love you, you still smell like hospital."

My eyes snapped open as he helped me sit up and I was about to protest when I realized that I was on the couch in the living room wearing a hoodie and panties and nothing else. I was twisted up in a comforter and had a pile of pillows at my back. I guess I looked confused because Ranger sat down next to me, supporting me with an arm around my shoulders.

"Here Babe. Maybe this'll help." And he handed me a cup of coffee. "You okay?" He brushed the hair out of my sleepy eyes.

"Um ... I'm not sure. What time is it?" I was a little disoriented. I could have sworn ...

"It's almost 8 am. It's tomorrow morning, Babe. You've been asleep for 18 hours."

"Didn't I take a shower yesterday, after Joe and Christie left?"

"No Babe." He smiled at me indulgently, and stroked his knuckles across my cheek. "You must have dreamed it. I gave you a pain pill because your back hurt so much and you just ... crashed."

I had absolutely no recollection of any of that. I sat and sipped my coffee, feeling the caffeine course through my system. Very slowly, the fog in my brain cleared. When I opened my eyes again, everything was a little sharper. Ranger was speaking to me, but the brain still wasn't processing what was being said.

I took a good look at Mr. Gorgeous. As he talked, he was pulling his hair back with his hands, tying it neatly into his usual ponytail. He was wearing charcoal grey suit pants and a pale blue shirt, his untied silk tie around his neck. A suit jacket was over the back of one of the living room chairs. Corporate mode, and he looked absolutely edible.

"Why is there a pillow and blanket on the floor?"

"I slept on the floor last night. I wanted to make sure I was right here if you woke up and needed anything." He leaned over and kissed me on the shoulder. "Gotta go Babe, got a meeting in 15 minutes. I'm gonna be tied up all day. Need help with that hoodie before I leave?" He gave me a lecherous grin and grazed my neck with his teeth while he slid his hand up under the shirt and palmed my breast.

His lips were pressed just below my ear, and he was whispering. "I don't know what you were dreaming about last night, but you know those little noises that you make, the ones that drive me crazy? If we didn't have that deal, I would have had my wicked way with you, even if you were asleep." He lifted the edge of the shirt and kissed my stomach with a groan. "I told you that you were my temptation, Stephanie. Twenty-seven more days, and the wait may just kill me. Twenty-seven days ... and counting!"

Untangling my legs from the comforter, Ranger helped me to stand up and gave me a final kiss on the lips before slipping into his suit jacket. I walked him to the door and watched as Wall Street Ranger waited for the elevator, tying his tie. I stood, leaning against the door frame, sipping my coffee as I watched him through half closed eyes. He was beautiful and he was mine, all mine. Well, almost. He turned and saw me looking at him and covered the space between us in three strides, the feral look in his eyes and his wicked grin made me gasp. He grabbed my coffee cup with one hand, holding it away from us, and with his other hand pulled my hips hard against him, walking me backwards through the doorway. He pinned me lightly against the wall in the foyer and kissed me until I could feel my blood flowing through my veins.

"Babe," he said a little breathlessly, "remember, the minute you walk out this door, you're on camera. You're a beautiful sight in that shirt and those tiny little black lace panties and your gorgeous long legs, that I swear I can feel wrapped around me. You've got that sleep mussed hair and those bedroom eyes of yours and that pouty, cry baby mouth, oh sweet Jesus." He thumped his forehead against the wall. "But you're not a sight I want to share with the rest of my men. After seeing you like this, their all gonna be thinking with their dicks all day. Twenty-seven fucking days!" He groaned and thunked his head again. "Correction. Twenty-seven NON-fucking days!" He left me leaning against the wall, coffee cup in hand, stunned, smiling, and thoroughly kissed.

I couldn't believe that it happened again! I was having dream sex with Ranger! First it was that whole eye sex thing, then sex by osmosis and then it was sleep sex and now it's dream sex so real that I'm making noises in my sleep? I was having every kind of sex except the REAL kind! Maybe this is what happened to a thirty year old, re-virginized woman who has an addiction to her shower massager? I wondered whether sexual frustration could lead to mental disorders? 'Cause, if that was the case, then I needed to have sex, and fast, all in the name of my mental health, of course! I figure that the more sex I had, the healthier my mentality would be. Yeah! I liked that idea ... a lot! I just wondered whether Ranger would buy it?

I poured myself another cup of coffee and headed for the bathroom. I was gonna need intravenous transfusions of caffeine if I was gonna make it to any real level of consciousness. I felt dull and unfocused, my head filled with cotton. Hungover, that was it. I felt hungover and I needed The Cure. I'm blaming the pain meds and too much sleep. I think I'm sticking with Extra Strength Tylenol from now on.

I turned on the water in the shower and stood back looking at the stage for my erotic dream sequence. The shampoo and sponge and shower gel were right where they belonged. Nothing was out of place. Damn! It had been so real! I wrestled out of my hoodie and turned to the mirror, surprised to see the tape wrappings that I had left the hospital with. Proof positive that it had all been a dream. Phooey!

I fought off the tape and finally got into the shower. Unlike my dream, I put the shampoo in my other hand and did a respectable job of cleaning up. Thirty minutes later and I felt like a new woman, still sore, but clean. I left myself untaped and cautiously put on a bra and dressed in loose, comfy clothing, black knit drawstring waist pants and a sapphire blue v neck sweater. I decided to let my hair air dry since I still couldn't raise my left arm. I added a little mascara and some blush to combat the paleness, no afterglow here, a dash of lip gloss and I was ready to go.

I padded out into the living room to find the bedding all put away. I needed more coffee and went to the kitchen where a plate with a dome over it waited for me. Ella left a note telling me to call her when Christie arrived so that she could bring coffee or tea or whatever we wanted. I was gonna miss Ella when I moved back into my own place. Maybe she'd adopt me? I lifted the dome to find French toast, little breakfast sausages, and fresh fruit. It wasn't The Cure, but I'd suffer and make do. I sighed in contentment as I fed my face.

I had just finished cleaning up when the doorbell rang. I don't know why I bothered to look through the peephole, I mean, who would break into the RangeMan building, (not that anybody really could), get past all the guys and all the security cameras, sneak up to the 7th floor, and then ring the doorbell? But I checked anyway, Ranger would be proud of me. Hal and Christie were standing outside, waiting patiently. Even if RangeMan was working with the ATF and the TPD, no visitor was allowed to wander the halls unescorted no matter who they were. When we finished, I'd have to take Christie down to the garage myself, or call for someone else to take her. Security is security, after all.

I opened the door and Hal and Christie came in. We all went straight into Ranger's office since Hal was carrying a stack of files a foot high. He deposited them on Ranger's desk and handed me a large flat box.

"Ranger wanted me to give this to you. He asked me to tell you that he and Tank are gonna be in meetings all day and they just scheduled another one for this evening. He says he won't be back in time for dinner but he'll call you whenever he gets a chance." Hal was just looking at me and wearing a smile a mile wide.

"What? Why are you grinning at me like that Hal?" He was starting to look like the Cheshire Cat.

"You really got that man hooked, Bomber. Never seen him like this before. He called me into his office and I actually caught him with a smile on his face. A smile! Do you believe it? Seriously though, it's good to see you both happy."

I put my arm around his waist and gave Hal a hug. "Thank you, my friend. It's nice to be happy." He ruffled my hair and gave me a pat on the shoulder in deference to my sore ribs.

"I'm on Bombshell duty today since you can't drive yet. So if you need to go anyplace, I'm your man. I'll be down in the Comm Room. Just holler if you need anything, okay? Oh, and Ranger asked that you not leave the building without letting me know. Didja catch that? He 'asked'! I'll let myself out." He started down the hall and stopped. "Hey Steph," he called from the hall. "Loved your jammies!" Hal snickered to himself, shaking his head, all the way out of the apartment.

Christie looked from me with my bright red face to Hal and back again. "What was that all about?"

"Just one more embarrassing moment to add to the scrapbook. Just remember, almost every inch of this building is on camera." I bet there would be still photos of me standing out in the hall. From the grin on her face, I knew that Christie had it figured out.

I sat in the chair behind the desk and opened the white gift box that Ranger had sent. Inside, wrapped in tissue paper, was a top of the line laptop with every bell and whistle known to computer science. The attached note said that it had already been downloaded with all the search engines and files pertaining to Karvic. It had everything I needed so I was good to go. I quickly figured out how to do the basic stuff but I'd have to get Lester to show me all the other things it could do.

Christie filled me in on all the details of the Jersey City situation. New firearms, AK-47s and handguns, were disappearing from military bases all over the country. A couple of cases here and a couple, there. Nothing to initiate a nationwide alarm. It was made to look like an inventory error, or that part of a shipment hadn't been loaded, or was just misplaced somewhere on the base. So few arms were taken at any given location or at any one time, that it always looked like a clerical error and no serious investigation was ever launched.

"The problem being," she said, "is that no one tied these incidents of missing weapons to one another. They all looked like individual cases of mishandling or incompetent record keeping. You'd be amazed at all the stuff that goes missing. It wasn't until a number of these guns were picked up on the streets and the serial numbers checked, that they were tied to the military. In most cases no two parts of the same weapon had the same serial numbers, but several of the different serial numbers came back to the missing military weapons."

"So you mean that they broke down the weapons and put them back together with parts from different guns?"

"Exactly, Steph. All the parts of an AK-47 are interchangeable so that the life of the weapon can be prolonged. If a part breaks or wears out, pop in a new one and the gun is as good as new. In this case, they took parts from guns that were already on the streets. Sometimes they filed or burned off the serial numbers, all to make them more difficult to trace."

"So how many of these guns have been found? And, I guess more importantly, where were they found? And when?"

Christie went over to the stack of files and rifled through them. She found the one she was looking for and flipped through it. "To date, forty-one Ak-47s, that have one or more parts with a serial number from a military shipment, have been found in eleven different cities, all on the east coast. It's taken two years to catch on to this little operation."

She turned a few more pages and read, "Balitmore, Boston, Philadelphia, Jersey City, Trenton, New York City, Newark, Washington, D.C., Savannah, Norfolk, and Fort Lauderdale, so far. They're covering the whole eastern seaboard, wherever there's a port or water access."

"Any idea of how many guns were never delivered in the first place?"

"At this point, we only have a guesstimate since the military isn't being very cooperative ... yet. It's about 1100 weapons. They're 'sold' to dealers and gangs who pay for them in drugs. The drugs are valued at 'wholesale' so when they're cut and sold on the street, 'retail', they're worth much more. We're talking about a multi-million dollar business, Steph."

According to the files, there were 23 sites, so far, that had reported weapon shortages from shipments in the last 24 months. The one thing that had just been uncovered, the single tie in factor, was that these weapons were all shipped out of one military distribution facility. They may have been sent all over the country, but they all came from the same place. That being the case, why didn't this depot have a stack of complaints concerning the missing weapons? Or did they? It was sounding more and more likely that the weapons were diverted at this distribution depot and never made it to the bases in the first place.

We sat and chewed on this for awhile. I got up and started to pace, I seem to do my best thinking on my feet. My spidey sense was vibrating, and the bells were going off in my head.

"Christie, did you find anything at The Wharf? Any sign of guns or anything that might be related to Karvic?" Probably it was too much to hope that there would be evidence just lying around.

"I've been all over that place, I even searched Joey's office. There's nothing anywhere. That crate of guns the gang members brought the other night isn't anywhere in the place. I'm sure they didn't go straight onto the street, not without the 'modifications'."

Then it hit me, and I'm surprised that Christie couldn't see that light bulb that went on over my head! Joey Dee had two other warehouses in the same area. Those were the ones that were supposed to be turned into condos, but they were just sitting there, rotting. All of a sudden, that big picture that everybody talks about, came into clear focus.

Joey might not be the dumb schmuck everybody thought he was, after all. Joey just might be part of the brains behind this whole operation. Maybe one of his get rich quick schemes finally paid off. I used my shiny new laptop to start a search on Joseph Salvatore de Marco. I wanted to see how much real estate the man owned, and where. We used Ranger's computer to do the same with a different search program, this one looking for the various businesses that Joey had a piece of. All we could do now was wait.

Since patience was never my strong suit, I killed the time by calling Ella to bring us lunch. Christie and I had been so deep into problem solving, that the time had flown and it was after 1 pm now. My cell phone rang and I checked the caller ID, Ranger. I was smiling as I opened the phone as I walked out into the living room.

"Yo."

He chuckled. "That's my line, Babe."

"I know. I just wanted you to hear how warm and fuzzy it sounds."

"Trying to change me already?"

"Wouldn't dream of it! Thank you for the laptop. I'm gonna have to take a class to find out how to use all those bells and whistles."

I could hear the smile in his voice. "Thought you'd enjoy a new toy, Babe."

"How are you're meetings going?"

"Very long, very boring, but very well. How are you doing?"

"Better than you. Christie and I made a couple of discoveries. I think we may have a real handle on this whole thing. Has Hector put the word out on the street? Has he been able to find out anything? It might confirm what we came up with."

"I don't know Babe, I haven't had a chance to talk to him yet. Why don't you give him a call and find out first hand. Better yet, call Bobby. Since I knew that Tank and I would be so tied up in these meetings, I asked Bobby to take over that part of the investigation and liaison with the ATF and TPD."

"Oh, really?" I guess I was a little surprised that he hadn't bothered to tell me.

"Babe? Why do I get the feeling that I just said the wrong thing?"

"Gosh Ranger, I don't know. Why would you feel like you said the wrong thing?"

"Babe." I waited but he didn't say anything else. 'Babe' to Ranger is like a whole language in one word. It can mean anything, and it's usually up to me to figure out what. Not today!

"Ranger." And I snapped the phone shut, turned it off, and tossed it onto the couch. Childish? Yes. But better than losing my temper. So? I just decided to treat him the same way he treated me. See how he likes it.

"Christie, did you get word that Bobby is going to liaison between RangeMan and the ATF and TPD?"

She looked up from her laptop, slightly surprised. "Yes, Ranger filled us in at the meeting the other day and sent a formal notification to the ATF Office. Why?"

"I didn't get THAT memo either." I could tell from the expression on her face that she had no idea what I was talking about. I just shook my head.

Christie and I sat and ate the wonderful lunch that Ella brought us. Well, Christie ate, I picked. I won't deny that I was irritated with Ranger. Now don't get me wrong, I love the man, but that didn't mean I couldn't be a little pissed as well.

Ranger functioned on a need to know basis. I couldn't figure out why he didn't think I needed to know this? The ATF had requested RangeMan's assistance and Christie had asked, specifically, for my help.

"Christie, I have an idea. How about we ..." There was a sharp rap on the door and Bobby came waltzing in. He planted a kiss on the top of my head, plopped down a thin file in front of me, and sat across the table from us.

"Okay, ladies. I'm here to propose a mutual fact finding mission. I understand that you have some ideas about the whole gun running operation. I need to know what you figured out, so I'm here to negotiate a little information exchange."

"Ranger send you, Bobby? Are you his version of damage control?" I couldn't say for sure that Ranger caught on to my irritation, although I did hang up on him, or whether his interest was solely in the information Christie and I might have come up with.

"Well, yeah Slugger, Ranger gave me a heads up. He said that you weren't particularly happy. Do you have a problem with me acting as liaison?"

That surprised me. Bobby and I always had a great working relationship. "Oh hell no!" I told him. "Ranger left me out of the loop again. That's what I have a problem with!"

"Ahhh. Well, that would explain it. He did say that your spidey sense was tingling, and you know how much faith we all put in your gut." He gave me a grin.

That was a point for argument. When I first joined RangeMan, I took a lot of heat over that spidey sense. The guys all called it my 'feminine intuition' as if what you called it made it any the less accurate. For some strange reason they thought a guy's 'gut instinct' was way more dependable. They quickly learned that my spidey sense never failed me and was always right.

"Yeah, okay, sure, Bobby." I said. "You first." Christie smiled and looked down at her plate, wisely deciding not to get involved in this little debate.

Bobby squinted his eyes and gave me a fake glare, but filled us in on what was on the street. The TPD Gang Task Force had put an ear to the ground and had heard some rumblings about that there was a new 'go to' guy for handguns and assault weapons, who would give better prices for the guns of choice for the drug trade. Since the Kings handled most of the drug trade in Trenton, it was a pretty sure bet that they were involved in this new weapons trade.

For our part, Christie and I gave Bobby everything that we had discovered, including the results of the computer search on Joey Dee. I turns out he owned warehouses in six of the eleven cities that the military weapons had been recovered in. Now we needed to do some serious investigation into that Military Supply Distribution Center. RangeMan had the proper clearance for those kind of searches, so Bobby would take those over.

"Bobby," Christie spoke softly, "please remember that I'm the ATF Agent in charge of this case. I'm not running around 'playing' at being an investigator. I AM an investigator, and a highly trained one, at that. I know what I'm doing. I enlisted Steph to work on this assignment with the official sanction of the ATF, as an investigator, not as a girlfriend. I expect RangeMan to treat us BOTH, as equal members of this Joint Task Force despite any personal involvement there might be. I would appreciate it if you would pass that on to Ranger."

"Yes, Ma'am, no problem." He looked at me and gave me a nod. "I understand the situation, and I have no intention of adding to it. As soon as I get the results of these searches, I'll send copies to both of you. Okay?"

Bobby left and Christie and I stayed at the table and sipped our ice tea. "You didn't tell him everything, did you?" Christie asked. "What do you have up your sleeve?"

"Well, do you remember those two girls from the jail, Marisol and Shaniqua? Their boyfriends were in the Diablos and the Kings. Maybe they know something? Think it's worth a phone call?" I looked at Christie with my eyebrows raised.

"I think it worth a shot! We have nothing to lose at this point. We just have to be careful not to give away our ATF roles in case she's not willing to cooperate." I nodded in agreement and reached for my cell phone.

I decided to start with Marisol who happily agreed to meet us at the Rt. 1 Diner. Shaniqua was a different story. I got the feeling that she was afraid to meet us, but she wouldn't say why. I had a real uneasy feeling about the whole thing and my spidey sense was jangling. Her boyfriend, Darius, was a ranking member of the Kings. She hemmed and hawed, but finally agreed when she heard that Marisol would be there.

Christie and I stopped on the 5th floor to let Hal know that we were leaving the building. We didn't tell him, or Bobby, where we were going or who we were meeting. If we turned up anything, we'd share, maybe. We told Hal that we needed a break from the research and that I was feeling claustrophobic and needed to get out. I think Hal assumed that we were going to the Mall, men! We took the elevator down to the garage and got into Christie's car, since I wouldn't be driving for at least a week, and off we went.

I had chosen the Rt. 1 Diner because it was outside the territorial limits of all the gangs and was away from Stark Street, so I guess it qualified as a neutral zone. Both girls would feel safe here, and so would Christie and I. But we weren't stupid, we were well armed and both wore vests hidden under loose sweatshirts. I wore my sig on my hip and we stopped by my apartment where I grabbed my Beretta Cheetah and its' ankle holster. It was small, but effective at close range.

Marisol was waiting for us when we pulled up to the diner. We decided to wait outside for Shaniqua and sat in Marisol's convertible out in the parking lot. Marisol told us that she had kicked her boyfriend, Tito, to the curb when she decided that she wanted to concentrate on finishing high school and go away to college. He didn't like her choice, so she just said buh-bye. Her grades were good enough to qualify for scholarships and she was proud of herself and excited about her future.

Shaniqua pulled into the lot, saw us, but instead of parking next to us, continued around to the back of the diner, parking behind the dumpsters where her car couldn't be seen from the highway. We followed her around the building, Marisol running ahead to catch up with the car.

We could tell that there was something wrong with Shaniqua even before Marisol helped her get out of her car. She wore oversized sunglasses and had the collar of her jacket pulled up around her neck. Her lip was swollen and she moved slowly, like she was in pain. The three of us exchanged glances. Hell, I was still stiff and sore from the ribs, but this girl moved like everything hurt.

We hustled her inside as quickly as she could move and sat in a booth in the back of the diner. Christie and I sat with our backs to the wall so that we could watch both the door and the parking lot. Shaniqua sat huddled down in the booth as if she was trying to make herself invisible. She was nervous and shaking and obviously scared out of her wits.

"I don't know why I let you talk me into meetin' you. Darius didn't want me to come and if he finds out, he's gonna be real mad. And when Darius gets mad, he gets mean anymore. I sure as hell don't want Darius mad at me again." We all knew, without her saying it, that Darius was responsible for her present condition.

The waitress came over at this point and we all poured over the menus. Jersey diners serve everything from steak to vegetarian, eggs to shrimp, you name it and it can be ordered at a Jersey diner. Breakfast can be had 24 hours a day and every true Jersey girl has found herself in a diner after the bars closed at least once in her life. Drunk or sober you could always find something you liked at a diner. After placing our orders, silence descended on our little group.

I reached over and touched Shaniqua's hand. "What can we do to help? We're not letting you go back there to face him alone."

Shaniqua took off the sunglasses and turned to face me. Both her eyes were blackened and she had a bruise on her temple. "You were right, ya know, when you said that they'd want to pass us around to their friends. I got this." she motioned to her face," when I told him 'No'. He said nobody gets to say that to him." She slumped down even further in the booth.

Marisol scooted over closer to her. "Tito tried the same thing with me. I told him to kiss my ass and I left. Ain't been back either. That son of a bitch can go fuck himself for all I care. Steph was right, but I wasn't gonna let him use me that way. I got pride and I got plans." Shaniqua just looked at Marisol and shook her head.

"I can't get out, he'll kill me first. I know too much about what he's into for him to ever let me go. He'd be afraid I'd spill what I know to the wrong people, that's why he can't find out I'm here. He said he'd kill me and my family. Maybe even you guys if he thinks I told you somethin'. I seen him hurt people, he'll do it, too."

Christie and I exchanged a look. We didn't need to say anything, we both knew exactly what the other was thinking and I knew we were both on the same page with this one. I guess ESP isn't just limited to RangeMen after all.

I leaned over and put my hand on Shaniqua's bruised wrist. "Maybe we can help."

"Nobody can help me. He's gonna kill me, just don't know when. He don't take 'No' for an answer."

Marisol spoke up. "If you're so afraid of him, then why did you come here in the first place?"

Shaniqua took a deep breath and looked Marisol in the eye. "I need a friend. I know I'm gonna disappear. I wanted to make sure that somebody knew that I didn't run away from home or somethin' like that. That's what the cops think about other girls that just up and disappeared. And what they think happened to Kendrick. He never came back the night Darius and Gerald and him went to meet that cop, Karvic. His auntie went down to the police station and they said he probably run away. He didn't. I don't want my Momma to think I left her. I want somebody to know what happened to me and that Darius done it."

Christie leaned across the table and took Shaniqua's hand in hers. "Look at me, Shan. Look at me!" She finally raised here eyes to Christie's. She wore a look of total defeat on her face, as if she was just resigned to her fate. "I have an idea and if we all work together, it'll get you out of this mess and you won't ever have to worry about Darius again." Shaniqua's eyes said that she wanted to believe, but couldn't quite bring herself to do that and she drew a shuddering breath.

"Listen," Christie said. "If Darius isn't around, Darius can't hurt you. You said that you knew too much about him to be safe, right? How about if you take your information to the right people and they take care of him? He's gone, you're safe. Nobody would ever know the information came from you."

"Who's the 'right people' that you're talkin' about?" Shaniqua was scared to death, but clearly interested.

"Does it really matter? As long as he's not around to hurt you or your family, why should it matter who gets him out of your life? Think about the end result."

Marisol chimed in. "Shan, he beats on you, threatens you and your Mom and little brother, he wants to pass you around to his friends, make you do stuff you don't want to do. Is this how you want to live for the rest of your life, however long it is that he lets you live? Girl, think about what it would be like to have your life back. Before you say no, just think about it, okay?"

She nodded and whispered, "Okay." Marisol put her arm around Shan's shoulder and they sat, heads leaning against each other, rocking gently.

The waitress arrived with our orders and we spent the next half hour eating hot turkey sandwiches, bacon cheesburgers, pork roll, egg, and cheese on hard roll, and open faced roast beef sandwiches and chatting about girl stuff. Marisol's positive attitude was contageous and the more she talked about her future, the more upbeat Shaniqua became.

After the waitress cleared away the remains of our meal, we all sat, mulling over our previous conversation. Shaniqua took a deep breath and looked at Christie and Marisol and me. "You're all gonna back me, right? I'm not gonna do this and then be out there twistin' in the wind, bareassed, right?"

The three of us jumped right in and assured her that we'd have her back and make sure that no one would ever know where the information came from.

"So okay, who do I talk to?"

Christie looked at me and I asked Marisol if I could speak with her. We went into another booth on the other side of the diner. I explained that it would be better if she didn't know what was being said or to whom. The less she knew, the less she could accidently pass on to others. Oh my God! I was starting to sound like Ranger! Marisol and I said our good byes and I promised I'd be in touch soon. I watched until Marisol pulled out of the lot and I went back to the booth.

Christie took a slim black leather case from her pocket and slid it across the table to Shaniqua. She picked it up and opened it, her eyes widening in surprise, and looked from the ID and badge back to Christie. A grin broke over her face, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

A small tape recorder appeared out of Christie's bag. She turned it on and gave the preliminary information about who, what, and when and set it on the table in front of Shaniqua. Once she started to talk, there was no stopping her. She talked about Darius and drug deals, Darius and missing teens, Darius and guns, and Darius and Karvic. She talked for almost an hour. Her information came mostly from overheard conversations. Darius liked to brag, so Shaniqua wasn't the only person who had this information.

While we knew that Shan had to continue to act normally where Darius was concerned, Christie and I felt that it was necessary to offer her a safety net.

I asked her if she wanted to take her family and go to a safe house until the situation was resolved. I knew that Ranger would arrange that for us. She refused the offer, saying that she didn't want her mother to know about her involvement with a gang. I encouraged her too at least go stay with a friend. I thought about calling Lula and enlisting her help, or I could even stay with Shan at my apartment. But she turned down all of our offers. She was afraid that if she did anything out of the ordinary, Darius would become suspicious and harm her family.

We packed up and walked out to the parking lot. Shan turned and hugged us both. "No matter what happens, I know I did the right thing. Thanks for trying to help me." And she was gone.

I looked at Christie and blew out a big breath. "I hope we didn't just get her killed." The look on Christie's face told me that she wasn't so sure I was wrong. Sometimes you have to do crappy things to get the job done. I was just finding out that I didn't like that part.

We got back into the car and I called Bobby and Christie called Morelli. We filled them both in on what we had found out from Shan. We also told them that we were gonna go cruise Stark Street. That went over real big with Bobby. He almost made the mistake of 'forbidding' me to go down there. He backed off when I told him that we'd be picking up Morelli at the TPD on our way.

We transfered to Morelli's POS at the station. Oddly enough, he didn't have anything to say about me being involved. I guess not being in a relationship gave him better perspective. Whatever the reason, I was glad I didn't have to listen to him bitch at me.

We drove down to Start Street in silence. It was like driving into Hell. This was an area where the burned out skeletons of buildings and the bodies of abandoned cars made the place look like a set for one of those 'day after a nuclear war' movies. Gang grafftit marked territories, drug dealers worked their corners and whores walked their turf. Drunks and druggies slept it off in the alleys and the the homeless set up cardboard cities, knowing that the cops wouldn't roust them here. The whole place smelled of urine and garbage. It looked every inch the war zone that it was. We three couldn't have been more out of place if we had landed on the Mars.

We were looking for an abandoned garage that Darius used to store the guns he got from Karvic. This was where he and his buddies broke them down and tried to remove the serial numbers. There was thunder and lightening a long way off and it started to rain as Morelli parked his car a couple of hundred yards from Stark Street, along side an old, boarded up grocery store. We pulled up the hoods on our sheatshirts and quietly slipped into an alley that ran deep into no man's land.

There were no streetlights here. The Electric Company quit replacing them years ago when they realized that they were almost immediately shot out again. Nobody wanted this area illuminated anyway. Most of the inhabitants operated best in the dark. We walked cautiously. Debris from the abandoned buildings, old metal trash cans, broken glass, drug paraphanalia, garbage, old furniture, winos, and rats all littered our path. The rain only made it worse. What the fuck was I doing here?

We had our guns in our hands, ready for anything. I could hear a baby crying far away, rap music playing, cars trolling for drugs or whores. Lightening flashed, followed by a rumble of thunder. Every hair was standing on end. Eventually we found the place we were looking for. It had a brand new padlock and hasp on the roll up door. Christie and I stayed put in the shadows while Joe did a look see around the building. Rats ran over our feet and it took everything I had not to scream and bolt.

Joe came back in a few minutes and whispered that he found a broken window by the side door. We followed him around the building. The window had no glass in it and was maybe 8 feet off the ground. If one of us could get inside, maybe we could unlock one of the other doors. I was the likely candidate since I was the smallest and lightest. Christie handed me a penlight and Joe boosted me up to the window.

I listened for a few seconds before I shone the light inside. Everything seemed quiet but it was hard to tell over the sound of the rain. There were boxes right below the window, stacked like stairs, in what appeared to be a small storeroom. I shimmied through and quietly placed my feet on the top box, testing to see if it held my weight, before I made my way down to the floor. It wasn't until I got all the way down that I realized that the boxes were the packing crates that the AK-47s were shipped in. This must be the place.

I crept out of the room and found the side door. It was locked with a cheap deadbolt. I guess the gang's reputation was all the protection that was needed to keep this place safe. I opened the door and Christie and Joe slipped in, out of the rain. I motioned them to follow me and showed them the crates. Christie quickly wrote down the serial numbers stenciled on the sides.

We walked out into what used to be the repair shop. The pen light showed crates stacked 8 feet high around the space. Work tables, piled with gun parts and tools were lined up against one wall. Another, cinder block wall showed hundreds of bullet holes. I didn't want to know what made the smears on that wall or the stains on the cement floor in front of it. I was more than ready to get the hell out of there when I was blinded by the overhead lights being turned on.

I raised my hands to shield my eyes when I heard the laughter. "Well, if it ain't my two girlfriends from jail. And you brought me a present ... a cop! Oh man, this is gonna be a fun night."

I lowered my hands and looked into the eyes of a well armed Darius Trent and five of his fellow gang members. This was so not good. Laying on the floor at his feet was Shaniqua Lewis. She was so badly beaten I could only identify her by her clothes. She looked barely conscious.

The gang members surrounded us, closing the circle slowly. I had been here before. They searched us and took our weapons. Joe tried to fight them, but they pistol whipped him to the floor, kicking him in the ribs and back while he was down. He was distracting them, keeping their attention off Christie and me.

They weren't playing games. Our hands were tied behind our backs and we were shoved in front of the cinderblock wall. At least I didn't have to worry about being gang raped this time, just about being dead. I looked at Christie and Joe who both wore calm, neutral expressions. I guess they were trained for this shit, but how you get trained to die is beyond me.

The gang guys were taking AK-47s out of a crate and loading them. They were laughing and joking about lining us up and playing firing squad. I looked at Christie and she gave me a small, sad smile and shrug, resigned to the fact that there was nothing we could do to save ourselves. Joe whispered, "I love you, Cupcake. Always have, always will. I'm sorry I got you into this and I'm sorry that it has to end this way. Close your eyes, don't look."

I leaned my forehead against his shoulder and planted a kiss there. "I love you, too, Joe. I'm sorry for all the pain I caused you." I pressed my face into his arm and squeezed my eyes shut. I thought about my last words to Ranger. They were snotty and childish and I wondered if he realized how much I loved him.

The Kings lined up across from us, execution style. Darius, obviously having a grand old time, raised his arm and yelled from behind them, "Ready! ... Aim! ... "

I never heard him yell, "Fire!" The shots that rang out inside that cinder block building were like a bomb blast, all white light and noise. I felt Joe collapse against me and I slid to the floor with his dead weight on top of me. Pain exploded in my head and I felt myself falling into the huge black pit that opened up under me.

TBC ...

We're getting close to the end now. Thanks for all the reviews, please keep 'em coming, I'm still a review slut!


	22. Catch and Release!

Disclaimer: They all belong to Janet Evanovich except Niko, who's made up, and Christie, who is a real, live person!

Warnings: All 12 books, no sex this time, no language to speak of, just some bad writing.

A/N: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews, please keep 'em coming. I have the flu, so this chapter is all fluff. I'll get back to the good stuff in Chapter 23 ... if I live!

Chapter 22: Catch and Release!

I could see a light, a bright white light. It blinded me. Voices, I heard voices, but they were so far away that I couldn't make out what they were saying. I was being lifted and carried. Oh God! My head, my back, it hurt to breathe again and I could hear myself whimpering like a wounded animal. I was wet and cold. I know I shivered. Someone laid me down. I struggled to open my eyes and saw a face looming over me, a man's face, handsome and dark. I didn't recognize him. His mouth was moving and I know that he was speaking, but my brain couldn't process what he was saying, it sounded like jibberish. Oh, that can't be good. He started to pull off my sweatshirt and I tried to scream and fight him. He grabbed my wrists, pinning me and I felt a sharp prick in my arm. Everything got swimmy again; I just couldn't keep my eyes open. I felt him pull my shirt off, but there was nothing I could do to stop him.

Fat, chubby cheeked little cherubs were flying above me. Cute little wings… ahhh… must be Cupids! Beautiful bluebirds, holding ribbons in their little golden beaks, fluttered over my head. I must be dead, and heaven looks like a Disney movie. Nope! Don't think so. My head hurt, so I must be hallucinating. I closed my eyes, to try to clear my head. I took a shallow breath, but when I opened my eyes again, they were all still right there. Shit!

I turned my head and looked around me. I was in the middle of a huge, four-poster bed, with opulent gold silk draped over the top and down the posts. A satin comforter was pulled up over me, and the sheets I was laying on rivaled Ranger's. The room was furnished with delicate, French provincial furniture, gilt mirrors and lavish draperies, all expensive appointments. Everything in the room was all pale blue and gold, definitely a woman's boudoir. But what woman?

The whole experience bordered on the surreal. The last thing I really remember was standing in front of a firing squad of gang members intent upon killing us. Now I'm waking up in Cinderella's Castle. What happened to Christie and Joe? Were they dead or alive? I knew I should be scared, but I think I was too numb to feel anything.

Pushing myself up on my elbow, I looked through the floor to ceiling windows. I could see the ocean, all shades of gray and green, in the throws of a storm. Angry waves crashed onto the sand, casting fingers of foam up the beach. As the wind gusted, sand, and salt spray dashed against the glass. Rain danced across the balcony and splattered against the windows and the side of the house. It looked cold and wet and nasty outside. Wait, I knew this house! In a split second, I knew exactly where I was. The only question was why.

Only the small lamp on the dressing table and the light from the fire provided any illumination. Even though it was daylight, the dreary weather kept the room dim. A small woman, dressed in a starched maid's uniform complete with white apron, stood up from where she was sitting in a dainty chair near the fireplace. She came slowly forward and stood at the foot of the bed, wearing a small, shy smile. We studied each other for a moment.

As I struggled to sit up, she hurried to help me and soon I was sitting on the edge of the bed. It took a few seconds for the room to stop spinning. I held my head, and the woman held my arm. I found a pretty good-sized goose egg on the side of my head, with what felt like stitches in it. The woman bent down to look into my face and spoke to me softly. Uh oh! There was that jibberish again. I finally realized that she was speaking a foreign language. I knew enough French, Spanish, and Italian, to have a basic understanding of what people said, but this one, I didn't know at all. I looked at her and shrugged my shoulders, indicating that I didn't understand. She nodded and smiled.

She looked at me and laid a hand on her own chest. "Stephanie, me lene Sophia." I nodded in understanding and mumbled Sophia. She already knew my name, so no further introduction was necessary. Sophia bent down in front of me and drew a pair of slippers out from under the bed and slipped them onto my feet. She helped me to stand and held out the most gorgeous peach silk robe I had ever seen. It was only then that I realized that I was wearing the matching nightgown. It had tiny straps and was so long that it grazed the top of the slippers. The gown had inserts of ivory re-embroidered lace over the breasts and along the hem, and robe had collar and cuffs made of the same re-embroidered lace. When I looked down at the slippers, I realized they matched the set.

I was still a little unsteady on my feet, so Sophia took my arm and guided me to a door on the other side of the room. She opened it to the most fabulous bathroom on the planet. Done in gold and white marble, I knew that the faucets alone were worth a king's ransom. A Jacuzzi tub big enough for six, with a crystal chandelier suspended over it, and a huge stained glass window of Aphrodite rising from the sea on her scallop shell, marble sinks, gilt mirrors, a private potty room, stacks of fluffy pale blue towels with satin trim, jars of bath salts and bottles of oil, you name it, it was there. This was a fantasy bathroom, straight out of 'Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous' that any woman would gladly kill for.

Sophia pointed to the new toothbrush and tube of toothpaste on the counter, next to the sink. She acted out brushing my teeth and washing my face, then pointed to my hair and then herself and then to the dressing table in the bedroom. I was always good at charades, so I understood. She looked a little stymied, but spoke to me very slowly, as if that would really help, "Tsai? Kafes?" and acted out drinking from a cup, right down to sticking out her pinky finger.

This I understood perfectly. "Kafes, please." She nodded and closed the door on her way out. I took care of the necessities, washed my face and brushed my teeth. I looked pale and drawn, even to myself. I looked in the mirror and decided that Sophia was a brave soul if she was willing to try to do something with my hair. I looked like I had been electrocuted, and definitely had that Bride of Frankenstein look going.

I reluctantly left the bathroom and sat at the dressing table that Sophia had indicated. A small clock told me that it was just after 7am. I had been out of it for a long time. Just as I was sitting down, another maid came into the room and put a tray with coffee and a plate of cookies down in front of me. She introduced herself as Eleni, in the same manner as Sophia had, and she busied herself making the bed with fresh sheets. I polished off the contents of the tray as Sophia deftly tamed my hair into a loose French braid down my back. I could get used to this very easily.

Sophia tapped my arm, "Ela mazi mou. Parakalo." She motioned for me to follow her. We went down the hall and to a wide, curving stairway with an intricate wrought iron railing that led down to a two story great room. There were lit fireplaces on either side of the room with couches and chairs, tables and lamps, grouped for conversation in between. The ocean side of the house looked like it was one whole wall of glass that looked out on the patio and the beach. I knew from past experience that the windows had a one-way security coating. You could see out, but nobody could look in. Knowing who owned the house, the glass was probably bullet proof.

From the living room, Sophia took me through the sumptuous dining room. An enormous chandelier with hundreds of crystal prisms sparkled over a table that could easily seat twenty. Carved out niches with recessed lightening housed what looked like antiquities. Fine bone china, crystal stemware, and elegant silver serving pieces were displayed in the built-in floor to ceiling cabinets along one wall of the room. Everything reeked of enormous wealth and good taste. The whole house was like nothing I had every seen outside of a magazine.

Sophia opened a pocket door that led into the kitchen or 'kouzina', close enough to cuccina, the Italian version of the word for me to understand. I stepped into a cook's dream. My mother would hyperventilate over this kitchen. I would hyperventilate if I had to COOK anything in this kitchen ... well, any kitchen. Everything was top of the line and state of the art, no expense spared. The exposed brick, pale wood and granite were all made to look like you stepped into a Old World restaurant. Stone floors, stainless steel restaurant grade appliances, an island prep area with a breakfast bar, rustic table and chairs in front of French doors that opened onto the patio, no amenity was overlooked.

A man was standing with his back to me, at an old-fashioned brick oven, built into an outside wall. He used a kitchen towel to remove a large loaf of fresh bread. He raised it and took a deep whiff of the wonderful aroma, a look of absolute bliss on his face. He deposited the loaf on a rack on the counter. He turned to close the oven door, then looked over at me with a smile. "Hey Chickie. How you feeling? You sure look a whole hell of a lot better than when they dragged you in here last night. Thought we'd have to take you over to Jersey Shore Medical Center." He came over to me and put his hands on my arms, kissing me on both cheeks.

"Hello Mr. Ramos. It's very nice to see you again." My mother was able to instill some 'Burg manners into me, after all.

"You get to call me Alexander. Guess you got some questions, huh? Here, sit, sit." He pulled out one of the stools at the breakfast bar for me. "You want coffee?"

"Thanks, coffee would be good." I sat on the stool and folded my arms on the granite counter top.

He poured two cups and handed me one, placing a spoon and the cream and sugar in front of me. "So, you hungry? You name it, I can make it. I like to play short order cook, so what'll it be?"

"I'm starving, so I'll leave it up to you. Surprise me, okay?"

"You got it, Chickie. So, go ahead, ask away." Alexander Ramos, the head of the Ramos Family gun running operation, the Guns R Us and 'go to' people for illegal weapons from Jersey, south to Washington, D.C., bustled around the kitchen like somebody's grandpa.

I took a deep breath and blew it out, steeling myself for what the answer could be. "What happened to Christie and Joe?"

"Oh, them? They're fine. The ATF agent got a nick on the arm from a stray bullet. Just a couple of stitches, went home last night. Joe, the cop, right?" I nodded. "He's still in the hospital. He took a pretty good beating from what I was told. He's got a concussion and a bruised kidney. He'll be fine, they just wanted to run some tests to make sure. The rest of that crowd'll never bother anybody again!"

I closed my eyes and put my head down on my arms. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry in relief. It took me a minute to compose myself, and Alexander Ramos patted my shoulder while I pulled myself together. I guess I decided to cry, because he handed me a linen handkerchief to wipe my eyes.

"And you, you hit the edge of a box of AK-47's and knocked yourself cold. You got a couple of stitches but you already know you're okay, may have bumped those ribs again. You stiff and sore?"

I nodded and took a sip of my coffee. "Who stitched me up?"

"My personal doctor. He checked you out. You were soaking wet, shivering and in pain. The girls stripped you down when you were brought in, and found that bruise on your ribs. You took a hit in the back? What kind of coward shoots a woman in the back? I tell you, there's no honor anymore!" He shook his head as he broke eggs into a bowl and whipped them.

"Mr. Ramos, Alexander, who knows I'm here?"

"Just you and me and the boys that brought you here. Why?"

"You mean that Ranger thinks I just disappeared off the face of the Earth? Oh my God, I have to let him know! I have to call him! I need a phone!" I jumped up off the stool and frantically looked around the room.

"Take it easy, Chickie, take it easy. What are you worried about?"

"Ranger! He'll move heaven and earth to find me. He doesn't know if I'm dead or alive, if I was kidnapped, if I wandered off into gangland! I need to let him know I'm alright!"

"Okay, we'll take care of it. Calm down, sit and drink your coffee and I'll take care of the phone call."

"NO! I have to call. I have to speak to him." I stopped dead. I turned and looked at Ramos. Very calmly I asked, "Is there a reason that I can't speak to him myself. Am I a guest here, or am I ... something else?"

"No, no, you're a guest. Jeez! You watch too much television. I'll make you a deal. Don't tell him where you are. Tell him you're safe, that you're okay, whatever. I'll even invite him to lunch tomorrow and he can take you home. I just don't want him racing to the rescue before you and I have a chance to get down to business."

Great, my life was just littered with deals! I don't think I was able to hide my surprise. "What business do you and I have?"

"I'll explain everything later. Look, I'll get Stavros to get you a secure cell phone that can't be traced, you let me listen in on your conversations, and you can talk to him every hour if you want. Fair enough? Humor an old man. I didn't live to be this old by trusting people."

I nodded in agreement, and sat back down at the breakfast bar while Ramos went to the intercom and spoke in Greek. A minute later, Stavros, a large man, worthy of Merry Manhood entered the kitchen and handed me a cell phone. Ramos waved him off and he retreated to the doorway, on alert, and Ramos went back to making my breakfast. "You have about five minutes before your breakfast is ready."

I smiled at him and dialed Ranger's number. The number rang through to the office and Tank picked up. "Yeah." The volume was loud enough that it was like a speaker phone.

"Yeah yourself, Tank."

"Bombshell? Jesus Christ, where the hell are you? Are you okay? What the hell happened to you?"

I could hear the chaos in the background as word spread that I was on the phone.

"Tank, don't bother trying to trace this call; it's a secure phone. I need to talk to Ranger."

"I'll say you do! That man is beside himself, Bomber. He's as close to the edge as I've ever seen him. He's out beating Stark Street and I do mean beating. He filled the emergency room, singlehanded. Hold on, I'll patch you through."

"Thanks Tank. I'll see you tomorrow!"

It took only seconds but they stretched into forever before I heard his voice, tight and controlled. "Babe ..."

"Ranger ... " Oh God, this is how I left it when I hung up on him. I immediately started to cry. "I'm so sorry I acted like such a brat yesterday, I ..."

"Babe! It doesn't matter. Where are you? Just tell me where you are and I'll come to get you."

"Ranger, I gave my word that I'd stay here until tomorrow. I'll explain everything then. But I'm safe and I'm being taken care of, in fact somebody's making me breakfast right now." I snuffled and used Alexander's hanky to blow my nose.

"Stephanie, we found your blood on the floor, Babe, a significant amount of blood. Where were you hurt."

"I've got a pretty big lump on the side of my head, and before you ask, I've been seen by a doctor and I'm fine."

"Steph, are you alone right now?"

"No." Oh, Ranger wasn't gonna like this.

"So ... someone is listening in on this conversation?"

"Yes, but I can call you whenever I want, and I've given my word that I'll cooperate. I'm not being held against my will and the conditions were requests, not demands."

There were several long seconds of silence before he said, "I need to assure myself that you aren't being threatened, or frightened, or hurt more seriously than you're letting on."

Yet again, my eyes teared up. "I understand, but all I can do is give you my word that everything I've told you is the absolute truth."

Silence again, then, "How many days left in our deal?" I knew what he was doing. If I gave him the wrong answer, he'd know that I was being coerced.

"Twenty-six long days and longer nights." I said with a smile. I heard him blow out a breath. "Okay?"

"Okay, Babe. I don't like it, but I'll play along ... for now."

"I'll call you later on. I need to eat and get cleaned up and I'm sure you need the same. I want you to go home and get some sleep ... promise me."

"Babe ..."

I softened my voice, "Ranger..."

"I promise. Later, Babe." And he hung up. Well holy hell! That's as close as Ranger ever got to saying goodbye. I was impressed.

I put the phone down on the counter and Stavros left the room. Alexander placed a plate and a glass of juice next to my coffee cup. It was some kind of egg and cheese dish and it was delicious. I was so hungry I just scarfed it up. He had cut me a slab of the fresh bread, slathered it with butter and honey and I was in heaven.

I was popping the last little piece of bread into my mouth when I noticed him smiling at me. "What?" I mumbled around the mouthfull.

He nodded at me approvingly. "I like a woman who enjoys her food. Kali oreksi, a good appetite. Too many woman pick at rabbit food to stay skinny, like that's beauty. A woman should have some meat, something for a man to hold onto." He looked me over. "You could use more weight, but if you make love the way you eat, you got passion and Manoso's a lucky man to have you in his bed."

I gasped and inhaled some of the breadcrumbs. I coughed until I turned red and tears ran down my face. Ramos patted my back gently and handed me my coffee cup, all the while laughing at my shock. "We Greeks are an earthy people. We embrace life. We taste how sweet it is and live it to the fullest. We have a passion for life, food, love, music, dance, everything! So we appreciate that passion when we see it in others. You have that passion. Maybe you are a little Greek?"

I shook my head, "Italian and Hungarian." I choked out.

"Ahh, close enough." He patted me on the cheek and started to say something when Stavros came back into the kitchen. They spoke in Greek and Ramos got up off his stool. "Now you get to meet my doctor again. He said he would come by this morning to check on you."

By now I had regained what little composure I ordinarily have and turned on my stool to watch the second handsomest man in the world walk into the room. He was the owner of the face that loomed over me last night, and that face was attached to a drop dead gorgeous body.

"Yassou anepsios." Alex held is arms out to the younger man and kissed him on both cheeks. (Hello nephew.)

"Yassou Thios." His affection for the older man was obvious from his smile. (Hello Uncle.)

When Alexander turned to me, pride shone in his face and rang in his voice. "Miss Stephanie Plum, I am proud to present to you, my nephew, Dr. Nikolas Ramos, my personal physician, and yours."

I held out my hand to him and he took it and found my pulse. "Miss Plum, your pulse is a little fast, but under the unusual circumstances, I'd say that's normal." He gave me a blinding smile, all white teeth against his dark skin. I couldn't help but smile back.

He reached his hand out, but stopped short of touching my head. "May I?" I nodded my assent and he examined the bump on my head, gently but thoroughly. He only touched one spot that made me flinch, and he made that little "Hmm." sound that doctors learn in medical school. You know, the one that doesn't tell you anything but bumps the price of the visit by a hundred bucks? Yeah, that one.

He moved my head on my neck and asked if I had any discomfort or stiffness. He took a penlight out of his shirt pocket and shone it in my eyes, asking me to follow it. He did all the doctor stuff and asked all the questions. Finally, he gave me a nod and stepped back.

"You're doing fine, no concussion or anything like that. Just take it easy for a couple of days. By the way, I saw that bruise on your back. I'd say you have a couple of cracked ribs? Like I said, take it easy, you'll heal faster." He seemed to have a very nice bedside manner. I certainly wouldn't mind having him as my doctor.

"Thank you, I appreciate everything that you've done for me, and I assume, for my friends as well. We're all indebted to you."

Your welcome, but I'm afraid I owe you an apology." He was standing in front of me, wearing a small smile. "I frightened you last night and you put up quite a fight. For a lightweight, you have a nasty right hook." He rubbed his jaw as Alexander hooted and crowed, "I told you she was feisty!"

"Oh my God! I hit you? Oh I'm so embarrassed!" I'm sure I turned a lovely shade of purple and buried my face in my hands. I had clobbered the man who was trying to save my life.

"Well, under the circimstances, I deserved it. You came to while I was trying to wrestle your sweatshirt off you. I can only imagine what you thought I was doing. But you were covered in so much blood, that I had to find out if you had any other injuries. Believe me, I'm an emergency room physician, that was nothing."

I was so humiliated that I could have crawled in a hole and pulled it in after me. "I am so sorry. I don't know what to say. You were trying to help me and I treated you ... "

"Please, don't be embarrassed. You were instinctively trying to protect yourself. I have to admire that."

"Except that admiration came with a sock in the jaw. You might as well tell me now, are there any other embarrassing moments I need to know about?" I was praying that there was nothing else, but from the looks on Niko and Alexander's faces, this was gonna be a goody!

Niko had his hands in his pockets and was looking at the floor as he rocked back on his heels. "Well," he started, "Hmmmm, you had a shower last night."

I just looked at him. Uh oh! There was that 'Hmm' sound again and it couldn't mean anything good. "And ... " I prompted.

"Let's just say you had some company in there." He was clearly uncomfortable telling me this.

"Company. As in ... who ...? You? YOU?" Oh my God, my humiliation was complete.

Alexander was enjoying all of this way too much. He was leaned back in his chair watching like this was his favorite Thursday night sit-com.

"Please, Stephanie, I'm a doctor. I've seen thousands of naked people an ..."

"Oh My God! You're not helping! Just let me die now." I was holding my head in my hands then jerked my head up. "There isn't anything else, is there? I mean, I didn't say or do anything ... inappropriate ... did I?"

He looked at me and winked. "A gentleman never kisses and tells."

"What?" I screamed and jumped up off the barstool.

"Kidding, I was only kidding. Trying to lighten the mood. Looks like I failed as a stand up comic! I guess I should keep my day job, huh?" He looked at me and took both my hands away from my face. "We were chaperoned by Sophia and Eleni every second. Your honor is intact. How about a change of topic?"

"Gladly, yes, anything!" I wondered if you could actually die from humiliation.

"Uncle Alex tells me you're a bounty hunter?" There was real surprised in his voice.

"I was. I work for RangeMan, a security company, now. I still do some bounty hunting, but I also do distractions, research, investigations, anything that the company is involved in, I participate in."

"Sounds pretty exciting. Are you an adreneline junky?"

I thought about that for a second or two. "Yeah." I said with a smile. "I suppose I am, on a small scale. I don't fling myself out of airplanes or jump off bridges or climb mountains. But I do get a rush from some of the stuff we do." Now that I thought about it, that's exactly what I was!

Alexander suggested that I get dressed so that we could conduct our business and I have to admit that my curiosity was at an all time high. He said he'd explain everything and I had no choice but to wait for him to get around to it.

Niko reluctantly turned me over to Sophia who led me back up to my room. I still wanted to know who resided in it's palatial comfort. I opted for a shower and stood in front of the body jets until I looked like a prune. The shower had been stocked with anything and everything a woman could want or need and I came out feeling beyond pampered.

Sophia dried my hair and worked some magic with it, straightening it and pulling it up into a soft twist. She then proceeded to apply my makeup. It was a struggle to convince her to keep it simple. Then came the clothes. I expected to find my own, cleaned and maybe pressed. Instead I was ushered into a walk-in closet, practically the size of my whole apartment. The walls were lined with racks of numbered, clear plastic clothing bags, each holding an outfit, each with a card to indicate the coordinated shoes, accessories and jewelry. Each and every item bore a designer label. There were built in revolving racks for shoes and handbags. There were at least a hundred belts and drawer upon drawer of lingerie. There was a wall of sweaters, from silk knits to the finest cashmere. There was everything from bathings suits to evening wear. Best of all, everything was my size. I really had died and gone to heaven.

As I headed back downstairs to Alexander's office, I caught a glimpse of myself in a the huge mirror at the top of the stairs. I was wearing a Ls Perla bra and panty set that cost more than my car payment. Sophia had chosen fine black wool trousers, and a white silk, long sleeved wrap shirt, black suede boots with 3 inch heel, gold button necklace and earrings and a wide gold cuff bracelet. Due to the cold weather, she topped off the whole outfit with a red cashmere shawl. I didn't recognize the sophisticated woman who looked back at me from the glass.

I wondered what Ranger would think, whether this woman would fit into his world better, and even if I had always looked like this, whether he would have sought out a relationship with me sooner. I wondered where all these doubts had come from.

I hurried down the stairs to Alexander's office. Niko and his Uncle were both waiting for me, and rose when I walked through the open door. Alexander seated me in a large leather chair next to yet another fire place and sat in the chair opposite. Niko excused himself, saying he needed to get back to the hospital and left, closing the door behind him. In the far corner of the room, I noticed Stavros and another man sitting in the shadows, bodyguarding.

"Chickie, my ... organization, is interested in the activities of one Vincent Karvic. You know he's trying to muscle in on our ... business, and the problems that it would cause for us with local gangs and such. We know all about your arrest and the formal complaint you filed against him, but I also know that you've been pulled in on his gun running activities. We know you're working with the ATF and the cops. Word has it that you witnessed him murder a gang kid named Kendrick at that dump, The Wharf."

I just looked him in the eye and nodded.

"If we heard about it, then chances are that Karvic knows about it, too. And if he does, he can't afford to let you live. I like you Chickie, you had guts to come back here day after day to take me for smokes and booze, back when I was off my meds. I know why you came the first time. Your Pantheras, your panther, asked you to. But I bet he didn't want you to come back here, did he?"

I smiled at Alexander and shook my head. My panther, I wondered if Alexander realized how fitting that was. The way Ranger moved, how he wrapped me in warmth ... focus Stephanie.

"Anyhow, I figured I owed you. You brightened up a dark part of my life, Homer being jailed, Trixie, Trudie, whatever the hell her name was, skipping out on me. I assigned Stavros and Costas to protect you after I found out about your connection to Karvic. Last night evened the score. You don't have to worry about Darius Trent and his buddies anymore. Karvic's a different matter."

"What happened to Shaniqua Lewis? Did she make it?"

"Barely. She's in St. Francis. Had surgery last night. She's in ICU, but she'll make a full recovery. I had Niko check on all of them."

I murmured my thanks. I knew where this was going, but it seemed like a good idea just to keep my mouth shut and wait for him to tell me.

"Okay, to business. I want you to pass on some information to your girlfriend for me. Obviously, I can't do it myself, and I want your word that you won't tell anybody, and I do mean anybody, where you got it from. I won't tell you how I got it, you don't want to know anyway."

He tapped his thigh with the disc he held. "Remember, if you give me your word and you break it, you'll have made a very powerful enemy. If you keep your word, you will have a very powerful friend, who will be indebted to you. Do you understand?"

I understood exactly what he meant. He wanted me to pass on information about Karvic and the illegal weapons, and not reveal who had given it to me, to anyone. Ranger included. Ranger had made it clear that there were things in his past, covert missions and government ops, that he would never be able to tell me about. Hopefully, when this came to light, he'd understand my position. Alexander studied me while I mulled this over.

"Do you know that RangeMan is involved in this investigation? The idea is to try and pull the whole operation down so that there won't be a territorial war with the group who handles illegal weapons in Trenton? I was asked to be part of this joint task force because of my research capabilities and community connections ... those connections include you."

Alexander Ramos, International Crime Boss, smiled at me. No verbal answer was necessary. This little transaction would benefit everybody, except Karvic, that is.

I held out my hand for the disc and our deal was sealed.

We spent the next couple of hours in the kitchen while Alexander made lunch for the household. He was a good cook, and told me that he had a little restaurant on Mykenos that was only open when he was there to do the cooking. After the seafood salad he made for lunch and several glasses of retsina, a Greek wine, he encouraged me to go up and take a nap. He didn't have to coax. Eleni was waiting for me, these women were mind readers, and helped me to undress and climb into the huge bed. I fell asleep dreaming of Ranger who I had called before I came upstairs, and how I would explain all of this to him.

Several hours later Sophia came in to wake me. She handed me a note from Alexander, we were going out to a family style restaurant for dinner. I could choose anything from the closet to wear. We went through the shower and makeup thing again and when I looked into that closet, I was overwhelmed at the amount of clothes. There wasn't a pair of jeans or a Tshirt in the place. Sophia chose a black mid-calf length skirt that fit snugly through the hips and then flaired slightly. She paired it with an electric blue, scooped neck silk knit tunic that showed enough cleavage to be interesting, and a wide black belt. Knee high black leather boots with a 3" heel and a black bag completed the look. Tonight's jewelry was silver and I had to admit, I looked hot. I carried a long black wool coat and black leather gloves.

It was still raining and blowing when we left. Stavros and Costas escorted us to the Mercedes limo under huge black umbrellas. As I said before, I could get used to this. It was the lifestyle that every girl dreams about. It was like being a princess.

Niko was meeting us there, so Alexander and I chatted the entire drive. I found out that the bedroom and the clothing belonged to wife number five (Trixie or Trudy) and that she had skipped out before she ever even got to the house in Deal. She had never seen the room or the clothing that Alexander had commissioned for her. I also found out that she had been a 24 year old Vegas showgirl to his 66 year old ... whatever he was.

The restaurant turned out to be a hole in the wall in Long Branch, tucked away on a side street. The food was unbelievable, the music was loud, and we all laughed and ate and drank and danced like we were family. It was a wonderful evening. We parted company outside the restaurant, with Niko kissing me on both cheeks and giving me his card. He was my contact if I ever needed to get in touch with Alexander in a hurry. I could also call him if I ever needed a doctor or a friend. I knew that Alexander had told him about Ranger, but Niko was putting in a bid anyway.

It wasn't all that late when we got back to the big pink house in Deal. Alexander had brought dessert home with us since we were too full to eat it earlier. There was a box of Greek pastries that was calling my name, so we made coffee and decided to watch a movie while we ate our dessert. Alexander brought me into a room that was set up like a movie theater complete with oversized and overstuffed seats and an automatic screen that came down from the ceiling. His choice of movie? 'Doom', starring Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson. As the movie started, Alexander told me that The Rock always reminded him of Ranger. I smiled to myself, yeah, I thought, me too.

After the movie, I called Ranger again, promising that I'd call first thing in the morning. I knew what it was costing him to sit on his hands and be patient. I made my way to bed and laid there for a long time planning out what I would do with the information that I had in my possession. I felt like I had only just dozed off when I heard a commotion dowstairs and both Sophia and Eleni came into the bedroom followed by Stavros. Sophia had tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Please, Miss, come downstairs now. Mr. Ramos wishes to speak with you immediately." His speech was heavily accented, but I had no trouble understanding the urgency in his voice. I got up and grabbed the robe that Eleni held for me and followed Stavros to Alexander's office. He was on the phone, speaking through gritted teeth. I could hear cars pulling up outside and there were men coming into the house. They were all heavily armed and wore body armor. Curtains were drawn, outside lights were lit, patrols were organized, guards posted! This was so not good!

Alexander came around his desk and handed me my Sig and my Beretta in it's ankle holster. "Well Chickie, it looks like retaliation for last night. I know that Karvic's behind it. He cut down 4 of my men in Philly. I don't want this to turn into a turf war. I need you to get that info to your girlfriend and bring him and his whole rinky dink operation down. He really doesn't want to mess with me, but he's too stupid to know it. I'm giving your friends 72 hours. Then I take matters into my own hands, and nobody wants that."

"I'll get in touch with her as soon as I get back." I needed to assure him that I'd work as fast as I could. 72 hours wasn't a lot of time.

"You need to get out of here now. It's too dangerous here, he may try to take me out. You go get dressed quick and the boys will take you to Ranger. I won't be seeing you for awhile. You need anything at all, call Niko. The boys will stay with you until Karvic isn't a threat anymore." He hugged and kissed me. "You be happy, Chickie. Now go."

I flew back upstairs and threw on the all black clothes that Eleni and Sophia had laid out for me. We hugged and kissed like old friends, then I was hustled out the door and into the back of a big Mercedes. The gates were opened and the car screamed out into the rainy night.

An hour and a half later, I was back in the apartment wrapped in Ranger's arms. He had covered my face with kisses and just held me to him, rocking me ever so slightly. We savored the moment and I didn't want to let go.

I explained to him that circumstances had changed and I couldn't tell him what had happened. He accepted that more easily than I thought he would. I'm pretty sure he had figured out where I was and probably why, but I wouldn't confirm or deny anything. After all, I had given my word.

I went to my computer and printed out what was on the disc that Alexander gave me. It listed the names of the warehouse owners in every city that the illegal weapons were delivered to. It gave names of contacts and gang members, lists of transporters, amounts of drugs used in pay-offs, street values, and even the names of the people who worked at the military Distribution Center, who diverted the weapons in the first place. Everything necessary to blow the operation out of the water. Everything but the information that would take down Karvic.

I quickly scanned the pages, highlighting the most important of it. I got to the last page and when I read it, I suddenly couldn't breath. Those damned little black spots were dancing in front of me, and I had to put my head between my knees. When I recovered, I folded the paper and stuck it in my pocket.

A meeting was hastily called. Joe was still in the hospital, so it was Christie, Ranger, Tank, Bobby, and me. I told them about the information I had 'uncovered' and the necessity for speed, having less than 72 hours to solve the problem. Christie passed on the info to the ATF for confirmation. The big problem was the lack of anything to use against Karvic.

Every thread was discussed and analyzed. Nothing led to Karvic. He had been too smart to be directly involved or to leave a trail that could be followed back to him. He had flunkies do all his dirty work, and while he was the brains behind the whole operation, his hands appeared clean. The only thing we had, was the fact that I had witnessed him kill Kendrick.

I looked around at our little group. "Well, it looks like there isn't any other choice. I'm going to have to come forward. We're gonna have to let it be known that I witnessed Karvic murder Kendrick."

Bobby shook his head. "Darius and the other kid are dead, Christie didn't see it. Just Joey Dee and Steph know. Joey isn't gonna incriminate himself, especially since the Feds won't offer him immunity since they've got him on all these other charges."

Ranger's phone rang. He answered and listened, his mouth in a grim line. He got up and walked over to look out the window, arms crossed over his chest. Finally, he turned and looked straight at me. "Joey Dee was fished out of the river a couple of hours ago. Two taps to the heart, two to the head. Looks like Karvic is cleaning house."

I drew a shaky breath. "I guess I'm it, then." Why did my voice sound so hollow?

Tank chimed in, "You're safe as long as he doesn't know you saw him, Bomber."

I took a deep breath and looked at Ranger. "He already knows." I took the sheet of paper out of my pocket and unfolded it, smoothing it out on my lap. I handed it to Ranger. It was the final page from the print out of Alexander's disc. It reported the rumors that a contract had been put out on Joey Dee. $100,000 to whoever killed him and dumped his body in the river.

The last line read: $250,000 to whoever killed and dumped Stephanie Plum at the front door of RangeMan.

TBC ...

Okay Readers, what do you think should happen to Karvic, and should Ranger and Steph stick to their 30 Day No Sex Deal? Ranger and I both have the flu, sorry for the chapter of fluff. We'll do better next week.


	23. Chumming The Waters!

Disclaimer: They all belong to JE except Christie, who is really real. Dean and Niko are mine, too.

Warnings: Everything: all books, smut, language, you name it, you've been warned.

A/N: Thank you to all the wonderful reviewers who have given me such fantastic support. May Ranger visit you in your dreams! Special thanks to Christie for smacking me when I lose my way, and to Ange x for her excellent editing.

As The Worm Turns!

Chapter 23: Chumming The Water!

Ranger took the sheet of paper from my shaking hands, and looked questioningly at me. He held my eyes for long seconds before his flicked down to the paper. Something that looked like shock flickered across his face before the blank mask slipped down to camouflage it.

He passed the paper to Tank, whose shoulders slumped. He had to clear his throat before he could read it out loud. Karvic would pay $250,000 to whoever would kill me and dump my body in front of RangeMan. $250,000 rang in my ears. Tank came to stand behind me, his big hands on my shoulders. We all knew what that meant. Every nut case, every loony toon, every clown with any kind of weapon, would come out of the woodwork to try to get me and make themselves rich.

I would have to go into hiding. There was always the danger that some nut would come after my family in an effort to lure me out. The conversation went to taking my family to a safe house. Luckily, Val and Albert and the girls were visiting his mother in Florida. Lester would arrange for all of them to go to DisneyWorld for the duration of the danger. I didn't think that any of them would complain, especially since Ranger would pick up the tab.

My mind was racing, only I wasn't coming to any conclusions, just running in circles. I knew exactly how Rex felt, I was just spinning my wheels. When I first read that report, I had hoped that the rumors had been just that, rumors. But with Joey Dee being fished out of the river, those rumors became fact. The fact was that Joey Dee was dead, and I was next on the list.

By the time I looked up again, Ranger and I were alone in his office. I never even noticed everybody else leave. Ranger was on the phone. His voice and speech told me that Stark Street Ranger was at work, dealing with his contacts and informants in that part of town. Any and all information was crucial right now. I knew that my life might depend on it. Ranger would do everything in his power to keep me safe, but that didn't mean I wasn't scared shitless.

Ranger kept his eyes on me the entire time he was on his cell phone. We hadn't been alone for a minute since I had gotten back from Ramos' house and hadn't had a chance to talk at all. When he finished the call, he came over to me and squatted down in front of me. Placing his hands lightly on my knees, he gently ran his fingers up and down my thighs. "You feel faint, Babe? You're awfully pale."

I shook my head and grabbed his hands in mine. "I'm just scared." I was trying so hard not to cry, that my lips were trembling.

He stood and gently pulled me out of the chair, wrapping me in the cocoon of his arms. Mine automatically went around him and I splayed my hands on his rock hard muscles, soaking in his strength and power. I held on to him like my life depended on it. He pressed his lips into my hair and we swayed gently together as if we were dancing. Comforting, this was comforting.

He pulled back slightly and looked into my eyes. "I'm putting the word out on the street that I will pay $1,000,000 for the head of anyone who harms you or yours in any way. I want everyone to know that you're MY woman and that there is no place remote enough, no hole deep enough, no safe place on this earth, for anyone who hurts you."

My shock was obvious. "A million dollars? You'd pay a MILLION dollars? You'd really do that for me?"

The corners of his mouth tipped up and Ranger took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he gently brushed the hair off my face with his finger tips. His eyes met mine and I couldn't define what I saw in his. Love, possession, affection, concern, all mixed together. He wrapped his hands around my neck, his thumbs under my chin, tipping it up so I would meet his eyes.

"I told you once that there was no price on what we give each other. There never was and there never will be, Babe."

"I can't believe that you think I'm worth that much." I shook my head in disbelief.

Ranger hugged me to him and lowered his face so that it was next to mine, his mouth near my ear. His voice was low and throaty. "I would give every penny, every car, every property, everything I own, if it meant that you would be safe. You're more important than any THING, Babe. Things can be replaced. Nothing could replace you."

He said these same things to me before, but they never meant as much as they did now. He had come to my rescue so many times before. He had hunted for me when Stiva kidnapped me, he had given me a safe haven when the Slayers were after me. I'm pretty sure he had even killed for me. There had been cars and bodyguards, and unfailing emotional support. You don't do all those things for somebody you just want to fuck. He loved me and he valued me above everything that he owned; everything that he had worked so hard to accumulate. I couldn't stop myself, tears started to spill down my cheeks. The emotional overload of the last few weeks was nothing compared to the effect his words had on me. I knew I could face anything if this man was beside me.

I looked up into his eyes and touched his beautiful mouth with my fingers. He took my hand and kissed the palm, holding it to his face before kissing my tears away. "I never had a chance to apologize to you. I'm so sorry I acted like such a child the other day. You didn't deserve that and I was so scared that night tha ... "

He pulled me tightly into his arms and I tucked my face into his neck. "Morelli told me what happened and how brave you were, what you faced. Don't ever apologize for being scared, it's one of ..."

"No, no, that's not what I meant. I mean, of course, I was scared of dying. But I love you and I was more frightened that I would die without ever telling you ..." I stepped back a little and looked into his chocolate eyes. "I was scared that I would die and you would never know that I loved you. That I've loved you for so long, I don't remember when I didn't love you."

He held my face in his hands and put his forehead against mine. "I know, Babe. I know that you love me in the same way that you know I love you. I admit that I fought it, tooth and nail. I told you that I loved you and always qualified it. But it turns out to be something that you can run and hide from, but you can't deny."

I wound my hands around his neck and I brought his face down to mine, covering it with little feather kisses, soft and gentle, over his eyes and cheeks and chin and finally, his mouth. The tip of his tongue sensuously traced the seam of my lips and when I parted them his tongue plunged in to tangle with mine. The kiss quickly turned greedy, hungry and all consuming. I wanted to give myself over to the sensations that shot through my body. We pulled away and looked at each other in shock. We had been so carefully restrained around each other. We were so aware of the boundaries that we had set, the time frame, the deal. But that was all forgotten in the face of raw passion.

By wordless mutual consent it was all thrown away. He swept me up into his arms and carried me across the room, laying us down on the leather couch. Ranger settled himself on me, cradled between my thighs, supporting his upper body weight on his forearms. His mouth came down to claim mine in a ferocious kiss, his hand fisted in my hair. I wrapped my arms around him and drew him to me, relishing the feel of his weight on me. He kissed me so deeply that it was like an attempt by two people to meld into one being, to banish the fear, to claim the other as their own.

I started to pull his shirt out of the waistband of his pants and we only broke the kiss long enough for him to pull it off and toss it aside. My sweater disappeared at the same time. He stilled for a moment and drew a breath. With just the tips of his fingers, he touched me, feather light, over my face, down my throat, over my collarbones, and to the swell of my breasts. His eyes followed his hands.

He gave a small shake of his head. "I'm always amazed at how delicate you are, how perfect your skin is. You're the color of cream, Babe, makes me want to taste you." He lowered his mouth to the hollow at the base of my throat and dipped his tongue in. I turned my head and arched my neck for him. As he dragged the bra strap down my arm, his tongue ran a wet trail across my shoulder. He blew his hot breath over me and he smiled at the shiver that shot through my body.

I ran my hands over the tops of his arms to his shoulders, reveling in the corded muscles under that warm, smooth skin. He radiated a sense of tightly leashed power, of danger, and raw sexuality. I looked at his beautiful hands, long, talented fingers that could bring such pleasure or could snap a neck, the hands that touched me now with such exquisite gentleness.

He pulled down the other bra strap and trailed wet kisses over that shoulder as well. Sliding his hands under me to unhook the bra, he lifted up my back and his mouth covered the nipple of one breast through the lace. I fisted my hands into his hair to hold him in place. I know that the moaning sounds I heard were coming from me and when he nuzzled aside the lace and sucked the nipple into his hot mouth I cried out and arched my back until only my shoulders touched the couch.

I was panting by the time his mouth moved to my other breast. He made an "Mmmm" sound that vibrated from my nipple straight down between my legs. My hips picked up the rhythm of his mouth sucking on my nipple and he moved his hips against me. He kissed a path up to my throat and licked and kissed the skin where my neck and shoulder met. My skin burned when he sucked it into his mouth, and I raised my head to sink my teeth sharply into his shoulder. He growled deep in his throat and sucked harder. He marked me well.

His hands were under my back with his fingers curled over my shoulders. Finally, his mouth found mine and we shared a frantic kiss, his fingers biting into my flesh. I touched as much of him as I could reach, running my hands down his back, then dragging my nails up his spine and over his scalp. He groaned at the sensations. Digging my nails into his perfect ass, I pulled him to me harder and squirmed under him to get the part of him I wanted most exactly where I needed him to be. I made little noises of frustration. We both knew this just wasn't enough.

He raised himself off of me and with one hand quickly opened my belt and unzipped my pants. His hand whispered over my bare belly and he slipped his fingers under the elastic of my panties, rubbing his knuckles back and forth. If he had touched me once, I would have come on the spot. Following his lead, I reached for him, firmly running my hand over his thick, heavy length through his cargos. I unsnapped his waistband and carefully lowered the zipper over him. Slipping my hands into his pants, I cupped him, massaging him gently. He groaned and let his head drop forward, his hair sweeping over me.

He choked out, "God Almighty, Babe!" and hooked his fingers into the waist of my pants and panties, pulling them both down at the same time. I had already toed off my boots and had just raised my hips to let Ranger slide off my pants when the office door was flung open and Tank stomped in.

Ranger froze and barked, "What the fuck?" but it took me several seconds to come out of my lust induced haze. My initial thought was of how I was gonna kill Tank, slowly and painfully, for denying me a much needed Doomsday Orgasm. The second was that I was gonna make him buy me a new shower massager because I was gonna wear this one out. THEN I crossed my arms over my chest. Tank looked like thunder and just stood, hands on hips, and glared at both of us. When he realized what he interrupted, a huge smile spread across his face.

"The fuck is that we had a little emergency at the Plum house and neither one of you is answering your cell phone. Of course, now I know why. You should have given me a heads up." He laughed at his own joke. "Then we could have avoided 'sexus interruptus' ... again!"

Modesty forgotten, I leapt up off the couch, almost knocking Ranger onto the floor, and ran to Tank. "Oh God, Tank! What happened? Did somebody come after my family?"

"No, no, Bomber! Nothing to panic about. Your Granny molested Hal and somehow managed to knock him cold."

I stopped short and stared at him in shock. "What? How did that happen?" I shrieked. The fact that I was topless never occurred to me.

The door flew open again and Lester came in. "What's the matter? I heard Steph scream!" He took one look at me and lit up. "Hey, I like the new look, Bombshell!" My humiliation was complete!

Tank reached over and smacked Lester on the back of the head and then, pointedly, looked up at the ceiling, out the window, anywhere but at me. "Maybe you oughtta think about getting dressed, Bomber." I probably turned six shades of red. He was trying not to laugh, but without much success.

Lester looked at Tank and smirked. "Nice to know they're both carnivorous." He pointed to his own neck and shoulder indicating that he has noticed the fresh bite mark on Ranger and my own award winning hickey!

Ranger came over to stand in front of me, screening me from a leering Lester. "Santos!" Ranger bellowed. "Knock it off!" Lester looked away, but couldn't seem to wipe the smile off his face.

I scrounged around, looking for my bra. Ranger had flung it out of the way and I had no idea where it went. Tank plucked it off the doorknob where it had landed, and without looking at me, just held it out at arm's length, dangling it from his index finger. I snatched it away from him and mumbled a "thanks".

"You two never disappoint. You always put on such a good show." His eyes slid from the ceiling to my face.

"Yeah," Lester chimed in. "Maybe we could sell tickets. Raise money for charity?" They both roared with laughter.

I gave them my best 'Burg death glare and they shuddered. I turned my back, although I have no idea why. They had already seen me in all my half naked glory. I slipped on the bra and Ranger hooked it for me, then lifted my hair and planted a warm wet kiss on the back of my neck that made me groan.

"Oh shit, they're gonna start again." Who knew that Tank could whine?

"Make 'em wait until I have the tickets printed!" Lester acted like he was gonna rush from the room.

Ranger put his mouth close to my ear, "I'm sorry, Baby." he whispered and handed me my sweater and belt. He helped me tuck and zip, not nearly as well as Sophia, but then again, Ranger had a 'benefits package' that a ladies' maid just couldn't offer. Not that it was doing me any good right now, unfortunately!

Finally presentable, I turned back to the guys and noticed for the first time that Lester was holding my purse. I had left it in Morell's POS cop car the other night. I grabbed it and dug around for my cell phone. I had turned it off for obvious reasons, so I turned it back on to check my voicemail messages. The damned thing rang immediately, and the ringtone told me that it was none other than my mother.

I flipped it open. "Hi Mom, how are you?"

"Stephanie? Stephanie Plum, this is your mother!" She was screaming and I turned down the volume.

"Yes Mom, I know it's you." I still had to hold the phone away from my ear.

"What is going on? There are armed men dressed like terrorists all over the house. They forced me to call your father at the Lodge and make him come home."

"Mom! Stop yelling. Mom ... Mom ..." She was on a roll and I was gonna have to wait until she wore herself down.

"They said that you would explain everything but you don't answer your phone! What's the sense of having a cell phone, Stephanie, if you aren't going to answer it? There's a man with a gun on the front porch. Oh, my Lord, what will the neighbors think?"

"Yes, Mom. Mom, calm down. Let me explain, Mom ... " I held the phone away from my ear and looked helplessly at Ranger, who just grinned at me. A hell of a lot of help HE was!

"Stella Martucci's mother doesn't have armed men running all over her house. Stella works for the Police Department and she doesn't have to carry a gun. She doesn't have crazy people after her all the time." True, but Stella's life was boring as hell. Of course, I couldn't tell my mother that!

"Mom ... Mom, stop yelling. I'm gonna hang up. Is Dad there? Mom, let me speak to Dad." I knew she was crossing herself. She was gonna give herself tennis elbow if she didn't cut it out.

"Why can't you get a nice sensible job like that? I'm sure that Joseph could get them to hire you. Frank, Frank, come and tell Stephanie to get a sensible job ... Frank?"

I could hear my father take the phone from my mother's hands. "Stephanie, the ambulance just left with your friend. He was only barely conscious when they got here."

"His name is Hal, Dad? What happened to him?" My eye was twitching and there was a little man with a jackhammer inside my head.

"Well, FedEx delivered a big box of knitting yarn for your mother today. Hal was carrying your Grandmother's suitcases down to the SUV and your mother yelled to her to grab the big package. Well, the crazy old bat did. Hal screamed like a girl, lost his footing and fell down the porch steps. He hit his head on the sidewalk. Out cold, poor guy! On second thought, maybe he's the lucky one."

"Oh God, Dad! Where's Grandma now?" If I was lucky, maybe she was still alive.

"The other one, Ram, I think, handcuffed her in the back of the truck. She's in her glory. She's rattling on that she always wanted to try bondage." I sank onto the couch and buried my face in my hands. "Do you think if I asked him nicely, he'd stun the old bag?"

"Dad, somebody made some threats and Ranger has arranged for you to go to a safe house until we find out who's doing it. Please make Mom and Grandma cooperate with the guys. And please don't let Grandma give them a hard time. They're trying to protect all of you."

"I will, Sweetheart. You stay safe and you tell your Ranger that if he let's anything happen to you, he's going to have to answer to me."

I had to smile at the thought of my Dad taking on Ranger. "I will Dad. I love you."

"I love you too, Sweetheart. Oh, your mother wants to know if this safe house has a liquor cabinet? Never mind, she's going to bring her own, and her iron. Please find this guy soon, I think my mental health depends on it." And he laughed, sadly I thought.

I closed the phone and my eyes, leaning my head against the back of the couch. Ranger sat down next to me and pulled me sideways into his arms. I leaned against his chest and just sighed. "My mother is bringing her own liquor and iron. I guess that constitutes life as usual." He rubbed his warm hand up and down my back.

A sharp rap at the office door brought Bobby in to join our little group. He pulled up another chair and the five of us had a little confab.

"Slugger," Bobby started, "Morelli told us that Darius Trent and the rest of the Kings went down before they even got a shot off. Morelli and Christie have no idea who came to the rescue. They both thought it was RangeMan. Do you know who it was? Can you tell us what happened and where you were?"

I moved off of Ranger's lap to sit next to him. He kept his arm draped around my shoulders, his fingers drifting over the top of my arm. I looked at all of them and shook my head. "I gave my word that I wouldn't say anything. All of you have things in your past that you can't discuss and I respect that. This is one of those things for me. The people who arranged that rescue and gave me the information to pass on have to remain anonymous for their own protection. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it has to be." I looked at each one of them, and knew that they understood and wouldn't pressure me about it.

Tank looked at his watch. "Christie went to pick up Joe at the hospital. They should be back here pretty soon. We really need to get a plan of action together."

Ranger turned to me. "Babe, why don't you call Ella and arrange lunch for all of us up in the apartment. I have some calls to make, to check out the word on the street, see if anybody new is in town, that sort of thing."

I nodded in agreement. I had started some searches on a couple of the names that were in the information that Ramos had given me. There had also been lists of numbers and I was trying to find out what they meant. I needed to check on all of those search results. I had enough to keep me busy but not enough to keep my mind off who was lining up outside the building to try to whack me. This was one of those times when I wasn't real happy being me.

I called Ella and took care of lunch and went to my cubicle to see if the searches had produced anything interesting. Hi-lighter in hand, I had just started on the first of the searches when my cell phone rang. I didn't recognize the number, and almost didn't answer it at all, but my curiosity being what it is, I couldn't not. Apprehensively, I opened the phone.

"Hello?"

Hello, Stephanie?"

"Yes."

"Stephanie, this is Nikolas Ramos. I called to see how you were doing."

I breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Niko, hi! I'm okay, considering."

"I'm calling as your doctor. How are you feeling? Any headaches, dizziness, blurred vision? Any unusual symptoms at all?"

"Headaches, but I think from tension, not from the bump on the head."

"My uncle told me about the contract on you. Is there anything I can do? If you need a safe place, I know that Uncle Alex would be more than happy to arrange something. Need a vacation? How about a trip to Greece?"

I sighed. "You have no idea how good that sounds right about now. But I don't think running away will help. I don't think I can run far enough or fast enough to make this go away. Until this is cleared up, there's always gonna be somebody right over my shoulder."

"Were you able to pass on that information? Has there been any trouble because of the secrecy?"

"I passed it on and it's being verified now. You know what the Feds are like. Nobody will act unless they're convinced it's a sure thing. But I haven't said anything about where I was or with whom. I've made it clear that I'm not at liberty to divulge those facts and everybody has respected that."

"I never had any question about trusting you. Neither did Uncle Alex, but I had to ask. Stephanie, I'm sorry, I'm being paged. Have those stitches checked ASAP and have them removed in about 3 more days. If you need me or Uncle Alex, promise me that you'll call."

"I promise. And, Niko, thank you and Alexander for everything."

"No thanks necessary. Oh, and if you ever decide to give up on Manoso, give me a call, Beautiful."

I laughed. "Thanks for the compliment, but I don't think I'll be making THAT call. Good bye, Niko. Thanks again." I closed the phone and went back to the searches.

I have no idea how long I sat and read, but suddenly, a warm tingle ran down my spine. Ranger. The sensation was so strong, it was like he had run his hand over my bare skin. I smiled even before I turned to find him gazing at me from across the room. When our eyes met, it was like everything and everybody else faded away. I studied him as he walked toward me, how his eyes started to sparkle, how his muscles relaxed under his clothes, how his facial expression softened when he saw me. Six months ago, I wouldn't have detected those subtle changes, maybe nobody else could either. But this was the look of the man who was in love with me, and I prayed that he saw the woman who loved him looking back.

He walked into my cubicle and brushed a light kiss over my forehead. "Babe, everybody is upstairs waiting for us. You hungry?"

"Oh, yeah." I said, and gave him a knowing grin, then turned to gather up the searches. Ranger stepped up behind me and put his arms around me, pulling me back into his chest. He nuzzled the side of my face and planted kisses from my temple to my ear, along my jaw and down the side of my neck. I melted against him and sighed.

"I'm sorry about what happened in my office, Babe. I wanted our first time together as a couple to be different; I wanted it to be special for you, flowers and candlelight. I shouldn't have let myself lose control like that, but you have that effect on me. I look at you and I want to throw you down on the floor and take you right there."

"Take me? Sounds a little Neanderthal, don't ya think? Next you're gonna tell me you want to grab me by my hair and drag me off to your cave."

"Don't think it hasn't crossed my mind." I could hear the smile in his voice as he nuzzled my neck.

"Awww, my cave man." I leaned back against his shoulder and turned my head to capture his mouth with mine. We laughed as we kissed, and a thought hit me. "Ohhhh, a Caveman Ranger Action Figure, in a leopard loincloth. Yummm! You could drag me off to your lair and I'd be your mate." I turned in his arms and wrapped mine around his waist. He tipped his head back and gave a real laugh.

"You better not tell anybody that little fantasy or you're gonna ruin my reputation as a bad ass, Babe. I'll never be able to walk Stark Street again."

I laid my head on his shoulder. "And just so you know, wherever I am with you is special. I don't need champagne and flowers, I don't need a romantic setting. When I'm with you, there will always be fireworks." He tightened his grip on me and kissed me, long and deep.

"I have an idea," he whispered. "When this is all over, I want to take you away. We can go anywhere in the world that you want. At least two weeks, just you and me. You decide where you want us to go. We'll make fireworks over," he kissed me, "and over," another kiss, "and over again."

The moment didn't last long. Both of our cell phones went off at the same time. Tank called Ranger and Christie called me. They both said the same thing, "Lunch!"

I picked up all my stuff and Ranger and I walked hand in hand to the elevator. By the time we got to the apartment, everyone was seated at the table waiting for us. Lester, always the comedian, quipped, "Gee, Mom and Dad, the kids are hungry."

I rolled my eyes and retorted, "Watch it son, or you kids won't be getting any dessert." I sat at the table, across from Ranger. Ella stood in the kitchen doorway and announced that lunch would be served buffet style. She had provided something for everyone, from avocados stuffed with crab salad to pasta, from thick slabs of roast beef for sandwiches, to potato salad, and pickles; a small army would be content with this spread. We all filled our plates and our bellies and made casual small talk.

Hector called. He'd been out on the street and found out from his informants that the word was already out on Stark Street that anybody who hurt me wouldn't live to collect the bounty. That crowd was more afraid of Ranger than they were greedy for the money, especially after the show of force he put on the other night. Ranger had ripped through Stark Street like the wrath of God, searching for me. Half the people he 'spoke to' were still in the hospital. Lucky for me, the denizens of Stark Street had developed a healthy respect for the Man in Black.

Once we finished eating, the table was cleared and we got down to business. Everybody took one of the reports and did a quick scan, looking for anything new that might have turned up, anything that might help us nail Karvic. I was still bothered by that half page of numbers that was included in Ramos' information. I kept going back to that list. My spidey sense was trying to tell me something, but what? No, not phone numbers, or zip codes. What the hell had nine numbers ... oh holy shit! "Guys, is there any way we can look up Social Security numbers?"

Bobby looked up from the report he was reading. "Why do you ask, Slugger?"

"Well, part of the information I have is a list of numbers. Each number has nine digits. There's no way to tell what they are, but I was thinking they could be Social Security numbers. If they are, maybe they're identifying people involved in this operation. Is there some way we could find out?"

Bobby looked at Christie who nodded back at him, then held out his hand for the papers. "Let me see what Christie and I can do." He and Christie left the apartment for his office, Christie already on her cell phone.

Ranger and Joe had been talking in the kitchen and when they came back in, they sat on either side of me at the table. Tank and Lester looked a little uneasy and I immediately knew that I wasn't gonna like what was coming. Joe put his hand on my shoulder and Ranger leaned over and took my right hand in both of his. I had this feeling that they were trying to keep me from fleeing, so I just sat and waited for the bomb to drop. Finally, Ranger raised his eyes to mine.

"Babe, we've all been talking about the situation and we've come up with a couple of ideas about how to handle the price on your head. Aside from my going and hunting down Karvic and forcing him to drop the contract, that is."

I shot up out of my chair. "Absolutley not! I won't stand for you 'dealing' with him. I won't let you do that again. We all know that it's not a situation where you can sit him down and have a man to man talk with him, or buy him off. He wants my body dumped in front of RangeMan because he has it in for you, too. He obviously knows what we mean to each other, he wants to make us both suffer. I don't want any more on my conscience or yours!" I was pacing back and forth and running my hands through my hair.

Ranger had never actually told me he had killed Abruzzi, but he had never told me that he hadn't. If he had, he did it to keep me safe. Joe knew what Ranger was going to do, and hadn't try to stop him. If any of it ever came out, they would both be in big trouble. It was bad enough we all shared that guilt. I couldn't handle any more.

Ranger got up and put his arm around my waist, leading me back to my chair. "Okay, I understand. That wouldn't be my first choice either. So we came up with a couple other scenarios."

I put my elbows on the table and ran my hands through my hair, holding my head. I closed my eyes and blew out a deep breath. "Go on, get it over with."

It was Ranger's turn to take a deep breath. "I want you to go away. I want you to go as far and as fast as we can arrange. I want you to leave the country. I have friends in Bermuda and in the Cayman's who will protect you. I have friends all over Europe who will keep you safe until this is all over. If I know that you're safe, I can focus on the goal, finding the evidence that will convict Karvic."

I'd been practicing the patented RangeMan blank face. It wasn't perfect yet, but I was getting better. I turned my head and looked at Ranger, my version of the blank face in place. I knew that he expected another outburst, but I was honestly too emotionally spent to work up another one. All I said was, "Next."

I don't think Ranger has ever sighed in his whole life, but I would have bet big money that he wanted to sigh in frustration right now. He threw a look at Tank and Lester who remained stock still and absolutely quiet. Joe was looking at the ceiling, whistling silently. I was pretty sure I knew the culprits who came up with these ideas.

"Look," I said. "I'm sick of being rescued. I'm not letting you handle this on your own. I'm not gonna hide under the bed or anyplace else. I need to help bring him down. There has to be a way for me to be out there, too."

I sat rubbing my eyes while Ranger chewed over what he was going to say next. "Alright. This one is more difficult and definitely more risky." I looked at him again. "We bring in our own killer. We arrange to have you kidnapped and killed and your body dumped in front of RangeMan. Our man will collect the money, the contract will be fulfilled, and potential hit men will stop looking for you."

A cold wave of fear washed over me and I shivered. I got up out of my chair and rather unsteadily walked out of the dining room, down the hall to the living room. I leaned against the window frame and looked down at the front of the RangeMan building to the spot where my body would lay. The whole thing was surreal. I wasn't aware that everybody else had followed me until Ranger turned me to face him and wrapped his arms around me. "Why does this shit always happen to me?" Oh my God, I was starting to sound like my mother! I buried my face in his neck and drew a shuddering breath.

He held me for a few more minutes, then said gently, "There isn't a lot of time to make this decision, Babe, so what's it going to be? Do you want to go lie on a beach someplace and soak up the sun, or go sightseeing in Rome or Paris?"

I didn't move out of his arms, just shook my head against his neck. "Not without you." I whispered.

"I didn't think so. You'll never take the easy way, will you?"

I pulled back from him and looked into his face. "If you really want me to go ..."

"No, Babe. It has to be your decision. And I already knew what it would be. So, I've arranged for someone to help design disguises for you. If we can't come up with something foolproof though, we call the whole thing off. Deal?"

Another deal?! I should go get a job in Vegas. God knows I was getting enough experience with dealing. "Deal." I couldn't muster up much enthusiasm for this one.

Before I knew it, 'Dean' was ushered into the apartment. Dean had been in the service with the guys and had helped develop disguises for them on a number of their covert missions. He was now one of the most famous makeup artists in Hollywood, having created everything from glamorous makeup for starlets to the gory movie monsters that everybody recognized. He took a stool into the bathroom, had me sit down, and went to work.

My makeup fits in a little bag that I can throw in my purse. Dean had a trunk full. It was a Jersey Girl's playground. He had every brand, every color and every style of makeup. He had wigs and teeth and contacts. If this hadn't been so serious, I could have dived in there and stayed for a month.

He pulled my hair back with a headband, cleansed my face and studied me from all angles. I knew when he had made his decision, he started pulling out jars and pots of stuff and lined them up on the counter. He asked if I could change into a turtle neck, so I hustled into the closet and dressed. He wasn't chatty, big surprise, just turned me away from the mirror and went to work.

A little more than an hour later, with makeup on, contact lenses in, and a short wig, he turned me toward the mirror. I was shocked. I couldn't see anything of me in the reflection. I was looking at a sandy haired, brown eyed, darker skinned, GUY! Even my smile was different because of the false teeth that fit over my own and, of course the moustache helped. My skin tone was deeper, the shape of my face, my eyebrows, even my nose looked different.

Dean was quite pleased with himself, it was a startling transformation. He had me stand up and he whipped out something that looked like a wide ace bandage. He had me raise my sweater and he wrapped my boobs. Now, I have a respectable B cup, and sometimes I wish I was bigger. This wasn't one of those times. This was uncomfortable. He slid some lightweight padding under my sweater over my shoulders and upper arms and around my neck. I kicked off my heels and changed into cargos and my cats, and slipped on my RangeMan windbreaker and cap and added my utility belt.

I stood back and looked at the guy in the full length mirror. If you didn't see the French manicure on my nails, I looked pretty convincing. Dean came up behind me, looking at my image in the mirror. "Something's missing," he announced. Before I could ask what, he shoved a rolled up face cloth down the front of my pants and into my panties. I let out a yelp, but he quickly withdrew his hand. "Your 'package'!" he said with a huge smile. Even with all the makeup I'm sure he could tell I was blushing.

By the time I walked out of the bedroom, Christie and Bobby were back. Joe, Tank, Lester and Ranger were all standing around, waiting. The expressions on their faces were priceless. They obviously had no idea what Dean had planned and 'Steve' came as a big surprise to them.

"Holy shit, Dean! Where's the Bombshell?" Tank was surprised.

"Babe?" Ranger was stunned. Wondering, I'm sure, if he was gonna have to share his bed with 'Steve'.

"Cupcake?" Joe choked on his coffee.

"Oh my God, Slugger!" Bobby laughed.

"Bomber, you traded your boobs for a johnson!" Leave it to Lester to get right to the point.

And Christie? Well, she just rolled her eyes like a Jersey Girl!

I was walked around, turned around, studied up one side and down the other. Then the 'man lessons' started. I was drilled on how to walk, scratching, grunting, and the fine art of 'adjusting the boys'! Another hour later, the guys decided to give me a test run and try me out on the rest of the crew. A new shift had just come on duty. If I could fool these guys, I could fool the bad guys.

Bobby was appointed test pilot and took me down to the control room, acting like he was giving me a tour. He vaguely nodded toward Vince, Hector, Cal, and Woody, giving brief explanations of what they were doing. I nodded at them, but didn't speak. They looked at me, but I didn't see recognition in any of their faces. I got the most attention from Hector, who smiled and winked at me, obviously flirting. I tried glaring back at him. Unfortunately, I think it only turned him on! After we left the Comm Room Bobby laughingly told me that Hector stuck his head out the door and watched my ass as we walked away. 'Steve' had an admirer!

Bobby and I went back up to the apartment. The disguise was a success and no one had any idea that it was me. There was no question whether or not I could carry it off.

Word came up from the control room that Hector was very excited that he wasn't going to be the token gay man at RangeMan anymore. He said he was happy that the gay community was going to be better represented here. I sighed. I knew I didn't look like a macho man, but I didn't think I looked like one of the Village People either. Oh well!

Gay or straight, the disguise was fine as long as I didn't have to speak. But chances were, since I would be involved in an investigation, at some point I was gonna have to open my mouth and the jig would be up. It looked like I needed an additional disguise.

Dean and I went back into the bathroom. I got rid of 'Steve' and went back to being Stephanie. I wrapped up in Ranger's big fluffy robe until I found out what kind of clothing I needed this time. I sat down on the stool, and Dean started all over again.

Some time later, Dean tapped me on the shoulder. I'm pretty sure I fell asleep for most of that time, because what he had done kind of escaped me. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Ranger coming into the bathroom. I raised my head and looked up with a smile. Ranger met my eyes and froze, the color draining from his face.

"What? Ranger, what? Why are you looking at me like that?" I knew something was very wrong.

I swung around to the mirror, and screamed in horror, my hands flying to my face. Those damned little black dots danced across the image in the mirror. I watched as MY MOTHER slid to the floor!

TBC ...

This week's question: Where in the world should Steph and Ranger go for their romantic vacation? You choose the place and tell me why. The most romantic spot will be featured in the epilogue, along with LOTS of smut!


	24. The Tackle Box!

Disclaimer: Janet Evanovich owns most of 'em.

Warnings: You name it, you've been warned!

A/N: Getting close to the end now! Thank you for all the wonderful reviews and all the support. I hope that you'll like the sequel as much as you liked ATWT! Thanks to Christie for friendship and laughter and Ange x for editing and support. I posted 'The Devil and Miss Plum', read and review and tell me how you think I did with the smut! I'm practicing for the Epilogue to this story! winkwink

As The Worm Turns!

Stayce (XJersey Girl)

Chapter 24: The Tackle Box!

I didn't really pass out but I almost wish I had. The shock of looking at my reflection in the mirror and seeing my mother looking back at me was one of the scariest experiences of my life. You know that thing girls do? You know what I mean, stand in front of a mirror in a completely dark room and shine a flashlight up from under your chin. You're supposed to see what you'll look like as an old lady. Yup, you got it, that's exactly what I looked like, except it was broad daylight in here!

I think the expression on Ranger's face said it all ... horror! I'm pretty sure that I won't have to worry about him losing control again before the 30 day deal is over. I'm really worried about what's gonna happen after that though. It's a pretty safe bet that he's gonna be sleeping on the couch or locked in his car! I hope he won't need therapy to be able to make love with me!

I wound up sitting on the bathroom floor. Dean had his arm around me, but Ranger was only touching my fingertips. It looked like he was having a moment of 'confusion', like he didn't really know who he was dealing with, like he wasn't sure that I was me. The upside of this was that if Ranger didn't see me as Stephanie, chances are that the bad guys wouldn't either. And since they didn't know my Mom, that was a two plus two they couldn't put together.

"Ranger," I said a little sharply. "Snap out of it! You look like you're rethinking our whole agreement. You're scaring me."

He gave his head a little shake as if to clear it and finally met my eyes. "I'm sorry Steph, it's just ..." He motioned toward my face, "It's just kind of a surprise. It looks so real and ... you look just like ... like ..." His voice kind of died in his throat.

I looked at him in wide eyed dismay. "You don't love me," I wailed. You only care about me because of how I look! You only love my body."

"Steph, of course I love your body ..."

"See? I knew it!" I whipped around and looked at Dean. "I can't do this. I can't stand to see him look at me like that, get this off me now." I grabbed some Kleenex and scrubbed at my face. None of the makeup came off. Panicked, I held the tissues out to Dean.

"Steph, honey, you can't get it off, it's permanent," and Dean smiled at me like he had just given me the winning Power Ball numbers.

"Permanent!" I shrieked, "it's permanent?" I started to cry, big choking, gut wrenching sobs. Oh my God, I was going to look like this until I REALLY looked like this!

Ranger tried to put his arms around me but I pushed him away and stumbled into the bedroom. I fell onto the bed and curled myself up into the tightest ball I could manage and just cried. Ranger came in and tried to comfort me, but I yelled at him to get the hell away from me. I just couldn't stop myself and I cried until I had no more tears. Christie came in and sat on the edge of the bed, handing me Kleenex and patting my shoulder. I think she threatened to shoot Ranger in the foot if he didn't back off and leave me alone. Christie is the very best kind of girlfriend ... armed. Finally, I fell asleep.

Some time later I woke to a warm hand running up and down my back. I had a headache and I felt stupid for making such a scene over nothing. I'm the one who asked the man to be more emotionally open with me. He was showing me his true feelings instead of clamping on that damned blank face. I mean, look how I reacted when I saw myself! Ranger was entitled to a few minutes of the same kind of shock. They say 'be careful what you ask for, you might get it'! Well I got it! I was so used to Ranger being a stoic, being emotionless, that when he showed me his true feelings, I couldn't handle it. I was an idiot. I guess the emotional roller coaster I was on finally caught up with me and ran me over. The crying jag was cleansing and less about Ranger and more about everything that else that happened over the last few weeks. I acted like a fool and I owed Ranger an apology.

I knew who that warm hand belonged to, and I turned over to apologize to him. I took a deep breath and blew it out; crow wasn't a very tasty dish and I hated eating it. I looked up into his face and almost jumped off the bed. Leaning over me was a middle aged Ranger, balding and paunchy. He had jowls and wrinkles, nothing overdone, just what a man 25 years older might look like. I studied his face in amazement.

He looked at me with a small smile. "Do you still love me, Babe?" His voice was soft. "Even if I look like this?" Ranger had let Dean age him, too, to show me that if I still loved Ranger no matter how he looked, that he still loved me, no matter how I looked.

"Ohhhh, you wonderful man!" It was all I could say before I threw my arms around him and pulled him down on top of me and kissed him with everything I had in me. "I'm such a fool sometimes. I don't know how you can love me."

He raised up off me so he could look in my face. "Stephanie Plum," he said, dropping kisses on me as he spoke. "I love you from the top of your curly head to the tips of your adorable toes and everything in between and as much as I love the outside of you, I love the inside more. Your heart and your spirit are who you are. How you look doesn't matter. We're gonna grow old together, so we might as well get used to this." He blew a raspberry on the side of my neck and I was in heaven. I adored playful Ranger.

I laughed and wrapped my arms and legs around him, pulling him over so that we were laying side by side. I put my head on his shoulder and wiggled a little so that we were plastered to each other from chest to groin. His hand was on my ass, pulling me closer to him and when I rocked my hips, I immediately felt him stir against me. Nuzzling my ear he whispered, "Feeling frisky, are you?"

"And I was worried you might need therapy!"

He leered at me! Ranger leered! "Only if you'll be my sex therapist, Babe."

I raised my head and in my best 'little old lady' voice said, "Give us a smooch, grandpa." I got a kiss and a swat on the butt.

He looked down into my face and shook his head. "Look at the stuff I have to put up with! It's a damn good thing I love you," he said with a laugh. "Let's go show the 'kids' what a lovely couple we make." He pulled me up off the bed and dragged me out into the living room.

Needless to say, we were quite a hit. We could probably go anywhere in the city and not be recognized. I called Ella to come upstairs because I needed her to go to the Mall and get me some clothes that would fit comfortably over the padding. The things she bought would also have to be 'age appropriate' for my disguise, and something that would be worn by a middle aged woman.

Morelli enjoyed my 'transformation' the most. He wanted to know if I had a yen for a bottle of Jack Daniels and an iron. Smartass! Joe said that when he hoped that someday I would turn into my mother, he didn't realize I would take him so literally. He hooted that he was glad he got out when he did. As if that was HIS idea! Yeesh, MEN!

Dean said that the only thing he would add would be brown contact lenses and I'd be good to go. I apologized to him too, and he explained that by permanent he meant that the makeup could only be removed with a solvent. I could take it off anytime I wanted and return to looking like Stephanie.

I didn't think to warn Ella and when she walked into the apartment and saw me and then Ranger, she did a classic double take. She put her hand to her cheek and tried to keep a straight face, without much success.

"Stephanie my dear, you look just like your mother. It is amazing!" She had come over and studied my face, her hands on my shoulders. "And Carlos, you look like your Uncle Eduardo! You could be another brother. I must go downstairs and get my camera."

"No, no Ella! Please, we really don ..." But she was gone.

"I'm not sure that I like this, Babe." Ranger sure didn't look happy.

"Yeah, well now you know what it feels like to be a line item in somebody's entertainment budget." I'll admit that I said that a little sarcastically.

Ranger crossed the room and cupped my 55 year old face in his hands, looking deeply into my eyes. "I never meant that to hurt you, Babe. I guess I never realized what it sounded like or how you took it. I was trying to let you know that everybody liked you, that you were part of the team and that you brought something very special to RangeMan. When you wade through garbage every day there's not a whole lot to smile about. After awhile life gets dark. You turned on the lights for us, Babe. You gave us the gift of laughter. You were the light at the end of the tunnel for me."

"Yeah," I said dejectedly, "too bad that light turned out to be the engine of the oncoming train."

Ranger smiled as he hugged me. "And here I thought that you didn't want to play choo-choo anymore!"

I squealed and called him a beast, then kissed the daylights out of him.

Ella made it back in record time and Ranger and I posed for the pictures she wanted. Maybe someday I'll be able to look back at this and laugh, but the reason for the disguises was anything but funny. Truthfully, the thought that there were people out there who seriously wanted me dead, scared the shit out of me. I needed to pull myself together and become the professional that Ranger and the rest of the team needed me to be. So I put on my brightest smile for the pictures and hoped that they wouldn't be the last I ever posed for.

Ranger smiled at me and wrapped his arms around me. "Come on Granmaw, give yer ol man a kiss!" He squeezed me tightly and made smoochie noises at me. I couldn't help but laugh, and he kissed me long and hard and thoroughly. I wriggled out of his arms and turned to go back into the living room when Ranger grabbed my butt. He waggled his eyebrows at me and came after me pinching his fingers together. "I'm gonna be a dirty old man." I squealed and darted down the hall to rejoin the others while Ranger went to remove his makeup.

I was still smiling when I walked into the living room, but from the expressions on all the faces, I knew that they weren't just having a pleasant conversation. It looked like our few stolen moments of laughter were just that, stolen. Tank was on his cell and Christie and Joe had their heads together over a report. Bobby was sitting on the couch, pouring over papers that were spread on the coffee table. Much as I didn't want to, it was time to get back to business.

Bobby came over to me with a smile on his face a mile wide. "Chalk up another one for your spidey sense, Slugger. You still have a perfect score! You were right, all those numbers you gave us, they're all Social Security numbers. We're waiting for the list of names to come through. With any luck they'll tie in to Karvic and his operation."

Ranger came into the room looking like his same old self while I still looked like I was old enough to be his mother. His ESP must have kicked in because he leaned over to me and kissed my temple, whispering in my ear, "I always had a secret yen for older women." I smacked him playfully on the arm.

Tank closed his phone and came over to us. He ran his hand up and down my arm in a comforting gesture. I had learned that this usually meant that bad news was coming and Tank was trying to soften the blow. Worried Tank was not a good thing.

"Ranger, Hector just called. Word on the street is that Jono Le Blanc is in Trenton."

"Fuckin' shit!" Ranger's demeanor changed immediately. "Now it starts." His hands went to his hips and he put his head down, pursing his lips, deep in thought.

I turned to Tank for an answer. He blew out a deep breath and put an arm around me, drawing me over to the couch and pulling me down to sit between Bobby and himself. Bobby put an arm across my shoulders while Tank held my hand. I had the feeling Tank was choosing his words carefully. "Jono Le Blanc is a hired assassin, Bombshell. He normally doesn't operate in the States. Last year he was involved in a failed coup attempt in some hell hole on the other side of the world. He got shot up pretty badly and went underground to recuperate. Now he has to rebuild his reputation. He'll do that by making a high profile hit hoping that it will re-establish his name."

Bobby took over the story. "Jono likes the high life. Four star hotels on the French Riviera, expensive wine, expensive cars, expensive women, gambling in Monte Carlo. Rumor has it that he's virtually penniless now. He needs some big money fast. He plays dirty, Slugger. He has no problem with taking out innocent bystanders in order to get his mark. He's not just dangerous, he's ruthless." He hesitated for a moment. "Ranger and Jono have history, Steph. A long, dirty history." He looked at me knowingly.

I nodded, I understood the message. "So, let me guess. I'm that high profile hit. Right?" I looked around the room at my friends. Nobody disagreed. Shit! "Big bucks, big news, big revenge. I'm a three-for-the-price-of-one. How can he resist?"

"Bomber, as soon as Jono realizes that the hit's been made, chances are that he'll leave the States. There isn't the kind of big money killing for hire around here that there is in other parts of the world. He wants name recognition, not to be recognized on the street. He needs to be an anonymous figure who can go through any airport without being spotted by the locals. He'll slink off soon enough." Small comfort, I thought.

At that point Ella came back with bags filled with the clothes she had gotten for me. Almost reluctantly I went into the bedroom and dressed and put in the brown contact lenses so that everyone would have the full effect. Dean also left a pair of glasses for me to wear. Along with the greying wig, I looked pretty convincing, even to myself.

The consensus of opinion was that my own mother wouldn't recognize me, and I could safely move around town once Stephanie Plum was officially dead. No use taking chances ahead of time. The planning turned to my murder or 'hit'. Since it was assumed that RangeMan was under surveillance to monitor my activities, I couldn't very well leave, even in disguise. Just in case one of these guys was smart enough to figure out what we were doing, we had to make sure that nobody left RangeMan who hadn't been seen entering the building.

Ranger came back over to the couch and sat on the coffee table in front of me. I felt like everybody was tip-toeing around me, trying to protect me from being upset. I leaned over and took Ranger's hands in mine and looked him square in the eyes. "Look," I said. "I appreciate what all of you are trying to do, but I need to know what's going on. I want you to tell me everything, don't pull any punches. I'm a big girl and it's time that I started acting like one. So tell me the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, or so help me God, I'll beat you bloody."

Ranger gave me a small smile. "You never cease to amaze me, Babe, but are you sure you really want all the gory details or do you just want a sanitized version? There are times when we only think we want to know everything. Sometimes the truth is a heavy burden and we can't handle it. We," he waved his hand to include the group, "can take care of everything and you won't need to know. It would be a whole lot easier on you."

"You keep saying 'we' but you really mean 'me'. I don't want to make things more difficult for the team, but I have to know what the plan is. I can't let other people risk their lives to rescue me anymore. I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna like what I hear, but I still have to hear it."

Ranger leaned in and brushed a kiss across my lips. "Okay Babe. Just remember, you asked for it."

Christie and Joe had taken the chairs across from the couch. Christie pulled out of file and flipped it open. She explained that the ATF had issued Federal Warrants for Karvic, and his unnamed accomplices. The problem they were facing was that right now, nobody knew where Karvic was. She looked at me sympathetically. "We'll have to stage your death first. Hopefully Karvic will crawl out of whatever pit he's holed up in and we'll be able to get a lead on him. If we arrest him without knowing who his accomplices are, then they can run. We need to get everybody all at once."

"Okay, I have a stupid question. If Karvic is hiding, how does ... I can't believe I'm saying this, how does my killer know that he'll get paid?" I couldn't help but shiver.

"Babe, $250,000 is a lot of money. Karvic would never be able to show his face anywhere in the world if he skunked the killer. He'd be the next target."

Joe and Ranger exchanged looks. "I saw that! What? Come on, guys, tell me what that was about." I HATE this ESP crap!

"Cupcake, the killer will have to provide something to prove that he actually killed you." Joe cleared his throat. "It could be a finger or an ear or ..."

"Oh no no no no! I'm not sacrificing a finger or a toe or an ear to make this scheme look legit." I jumped up off the couch but Bobby pulled me back down.

"Relax, Slugger. No parts of your beautiful body will be sacrificed for this little dog and pony show." He patted me on the knee, not just to calm me, but to hold me down, I think.

Christie rolled her eyes almost as well as a Jersey Girl. "Steph, what they're trying to say is that we need something that Karvic will recognize as yours. Do you have any ideas? If we can't come up with a personal item, then we'll have to get ... something, from a morgue or medical school for the 'killer' to give Karvic and have it put in the papers that the body was mutilated."

I thought for a second, then got up and went into the bedroom. I came back out and reluctantly handed Christie my gold handcuff necklace that the guys had given me at my party. When I ran into him at the police station, Karvic had picked up the tiny handcuffs and told me they were his favorite sex toy. "He'll know this is mine. Is there any chance that I'll get this back? It means a lot to me."

"I'll try Steph. There's no telling what Karvic will do with it," she said ruefully. "But I promise that I'll try my best to get it back."

"Okay, then let's hurry up and get this all over with. I need to get out of here and do something constructive."

Christie smiled at me, already knowing that I'd be impatient. "It's set up for tomorrow night. We have a stunt woman who will play you and we have an agent in place to be the hitman. We just have to make sure that everyone knows the part they have to play, and then we can get this show on the road." She looked over at Ranger. "Will you be able to pull this off? Can you be convincing out in the street? Remember, nobody from the TPD except Joe is going to know what's going on. They're all going to think that Stephanie is dead."

Ranger nodded. "I can handle it." He looked away from me and I saw him swallow, hard.

I was floored! "Christie, most of those cops are my friends. I grew up with them, Carl and I made our First Holy Communion together. Eddie is married to my cousin, he's family. Big Dog asked me to the Policemen's Ball next month. They'll never forgive me." I got up and started to pace.

"Stephanie, this isn't about friendship," Ranger said softly, "this is about your life. Once this is all over and they find out that you're alright, believe me, they'll be fine. They'll understand why it had to be done."

"Well that's just great, but I don't understand! Why can't they be told? Don't you trust them?" I honestly was confused. Then it dawned on me. In mid-rant, it hit me. I looked around the room. "Do you think there's still somebody on the inside? Do you think there's somebody feeding Karvic information. Is that it?"

Ranger answered me again. "It's just a precaution, Babe. This is a huge 'sting' operation and we're trying to cover every possible angle. The fewer people who know, the fewer chances of somebody slipping up. The EMT's that show up are gonna be agents, the people from the Coroner's Office will be agents, the FBI and ATF agents are in on it. But there will be cops and reporters and spectators all over the place and there will be plants in the crowd, listening for anything useful. It's gonna be splashed all over the papers, the bigger the better. It's what we going for. Hopefully, once the heat is off, Karvic will stick his head out of whatever rathole he's hiding in and we can grab him."

My head was splitting and I leaned against the window frame and rubbed my forehead. The conversation went on, cell phones rang, I was beginning to think that you didn't have to die to go to hell, I was already there.

Bobby came over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "Slugger, how would you like to give your disguise a real test drive? Eddie is downstairs with some information for me. Why don't you and Christie come along. Let's see if he recognizes you? Waddaya say?"

If Eddie didn't recognize me, then chances were good that nobody would. Bobby, Christie, and I loaded aboard the elevator and went down to 5. Eddie was in the Comm Room, talking with the guys and waiting for Bobby. Christie and I stood outside the glass window that separates the Comm Room from the rest of the floor. Eddie watched Bobby talk to Christie and me, then walk into the Comm Room. He watched Christie appreciatively, giving her a careful once over, paying special attention to her chest. He barely gave her middle aged, less than skinny partner, ME, a glance. Oh, I was SO gonna blackmail him with this.

Bobby looked at the folder Eddie brought, scanning it briefly then motioned toward Christie and me. He and Eddie left the Comm Room and joined us. Christie introduced me as Connie Schulmann, and I held my hand out to Eddie. But Eddie never took his eyes off Christie and didn't notice that my hand was out. Bobby just stood there, enjoying the show.

Eddie had brought information picked up by the Gang Squad and from a couple of CI's down on Stark Street about possible hit men who had come to Trenton. Our fake hitman's name was on the list, along with his fake background as a paid killer. It gave the whole set up credibility. I was just praying that this would all work and that I didn't really end up dead.

Eddie finally turned to look at me when I asked about the reliability of the information he had brought. I already knew the answer to that question, but I wanted Eddie's attention to see if he would recognize me. He gave me an answer, then looked at me oddly and said, "Connie is it? You look familiar. You remind me of somebody, but I can't figure out who." He kept looking at me with a puzzled expression on his face.

I made my voice a little deeper that normal when I answered him. "Yeah, I get that a lot."

I saw when recognition hit him, I swear I saw the lightbulb go on over his head. He snapped his fingers and smiled. "I know! You remind me of Ellen Plum!" He turned to Bobby, "Doesn't she look like Steph's mother?"

Bobby turned and looked at me closely, studying me. "Well Eddie, now that you mention it, I think I can see what you mean. Yeah, right around the eyes."

With that Eddie's cell phone rang. He listened and spoke briefly. Shaking his head, he ended the call. "You can take three names off that list. It seems that three of our favorite gang bangers had an argument over who would collect that 250K first and managed to shoot each other down in the middle of the street. This town is becoming more and more like Dodge City every day. Well, I gotta get down to Start Street and take care of this. Bobby, I'll keep in touch. Ladies, good night." Vince played escort and took Eddie down to his car.

Bobby and Christie were more than happy with my disguise. Christie told me that tomorrow night, after the 'body' was dumped in front of the building, I would be coming back here with her to work the 'investigation' as an ATF agent. It would be my job to walk the grid, which meant search the area for evidence. It also meant that I could search the crowd that would certainly gather. I was to keep an eye out for Karvic on the outside chance that he would show up. He was just cocky enough to pull something like that.

We all went back up to the apartment to report the success of the disguise. Bobby also told us that Hector was looking for the hot newbie that he had seen earlier. It seemed that Hector was in loooove, and nobody wanted to be the one to break his heart, especially since Hector had two tears tattooed on his cheek. In 'gang-speak' it meant that he was credited with two kills. Nobody wanted to piss off Hector. I voted to tell him that the new guy's wife and kids didn't want to move to Trenton. The guys decided that I was brilliant and I would get to break that particular little tidbit to Hector myself. What a bunch of sissies!

Being locked up at RangeMan was wearing thin. I was on information overload and bored at the same time. I wanted to be out on the street, searching for clues, Karvic, TastyKakes, anything but sitting here. My nerves were frayed and I was jumpy and anxious. I needed fat, sugar, carbs, and my shower massager. Probably in that order!

I finally excused myself and went into the bathroom to removed the makeup. The cap that I had to wear under the wig that held my hair down was tight and the wig was uncomfortable, the makeup was thick and felt like putty on my face, I just wanted to scratch my head and scrub my face. It was heavenly and I felt like I had been released from a prison. When I looked in the mirror, I was glad to see Stephanie again. I stood in the shower and let the water pound me until I was relaxed and pruney. I threw on some comfy clothes, gelled the hair and I was good to go. By the time I went back to the living room, everybody but Ranger and Tank were gone.

As soon as he saw me, Ranger crossed the room and wrapped me in his arms. I put my head on his shoulder and just let his heat soak into me. I could feel my whole body just melt into him and I felt him relax into me, too. I pulled back from him slightly, to look into his face. I could see care and concern and love in his eyes. Strange how I could suddenly read this man who just a short while ago I thought was emotionless. Now it seemed like his feelings radiated off of him. He gently kissed my forehead and my eyelids, my cheeks and chin, finally my lips. His tongue searched my mouth and I sighed into his. If I could have crawled under his skin I would have.

We heard a throat clear, loudly. It broke us out of our little reverie and brought us back to the present. I sighed in disappointment and Ranger smiled and planted a final soft kiss on my lips. I turned and glared at Tank who was sprawled on the couch, arms spread out over the back and long legs crossed. I think he would have applauded if he wasn't sure I'd have killed him. "People, we need to talk." He patted the couch next to him.

Ranger took my hand and led me over to the couch, sitting on the other end from Tank and pulling me into his lap. From the expressions on their faces I was pretty sure that they already had this discussion and were going to tell me what they thought I needed to know.

I looked at them both, then zeroed in on Ranger. I smiled sweetly. "You know I love you both. But can I suggest that you rethink your little plan to spoon feed Stephanie whatever bullshit you have lined up and start from the beginning and tell me what's going on?"

Tank just chuckled and shook his head and Ranger dropped his head onto my shoulder with a thump. Tank looked over at Ranger. "Told ya so, my friend!"

Ranger looked at me with a resigned smile. "Do you EVER turn off that spidey sense?"

I looked deeply into his eyes while I gently stroked is cheek. He turned his head and kissed my palm, then tipped his cheek into my hand. I tightened my arm around his shoulders and nuzzled the side of his head. I whispered, "It isn't spidey sense," then sat up and said loudly, "you two are just so damned transparent. You better keep your day jobs because you'll never make it as actors! Just tell me what the hell's going on! Now!" And I crossed my arms over my chest and waited.

"Okay, Bombshell, you got us. We just didn't want to upset or scare you. Really, we meant well."

"Tank," I said through gritted teeth. "I'm as upset and scared as I've ever been in my life. Do you really think that just because I'm sitting here with you two, wrapped in the RangeMan cocoon, that I think I'm safe and secure. Just because I sometimes do stupid stuff doesn't mean that I AM stupid! I know the danger that I'm in and believe me, I'm not ready to die yet. Tell me whatever it is and get it over with!"

Tank and Ranger exchanged one of those friggin' ESP messages, then Tank leaned over and flipped open the file that sat on the coffee table. "These are the people who are hanging around the building, Bomber. They walk past, park down the street, drive around the block, whatever. Everybody seems to be checking out the building because this is the most logical place for you to be."

I flipped through the dozen or so photos. I didn't really recognize anybody, just the ususal suspects, as they say. Gang bangers with their pants so low that their underwear was showing, unshaven guys in black leather jackets and sunglasses, a guy in a trench coat and a hat, oh puhleese, but they were all potentially lethal. I recognized the guys in the last two pictures ... Stavros and Costas.

Holy shit! These guys weren't hitmen, they were the bodyguards that Alexander Ramos assigned to protect me from Karvic! I was tempted to tell Ranger and Tank who they were, for a second. But I had given Alexander my word. I'd have to figure out a way to call Niko and warn him. Tank was watching me closely, and I hoped that I hadn't given anything away. I closed the folder and looked at him. "How many do you think there are out there?"

"You don't want me to answer that, Bomber." I shuddered. All those people who were willing to kill me themselves. It made my skin crawl!

"Babe, we have to get you out of the building tonight. I've arranged a safe house for you. In fact, Lester has been there all afternoon. He and Morelli will stay with you tonight." He sounded less than happy about that. "Dean will meet you there tomorrow evening to help with the disguise and Christie will pick you up and bring you back here after ... after. You need to pack a bag with whatever you're gonna need for tonight and tomorrow."

"You aren't coming?"

"No, Babe. I have to be out on the street. If I'm not, it'll look suspicious. Tank and Bobby and I are gonna be touring Stark Street tonight, reinforcing how 'unhappy' I'll be if anything happens to you." He gave me a tight smile and squeezed my hand. "But I'll only be a phone call away."

"How do you plan on getting me out of here with nobody knowing? I can't just climb into the backseat of a car." I looked from Tank to Ranger.

Tank took a deep breath and blew it out. Looked like he was gonna be the spokesman for this show. "You know that there have been workmen on 4 all day today, right?"

"Yeah, they're redoing the kitchen in the Rec Room. Why?"

"They aren't really workmen, Bomber. They're guys from the Boston office. We needed people who we could trust so we brought them in a couple of days ago. They're just sitting around downstairs watching TV and shit. They go outside for tools or the appliances every once in awhile, took a lunch break and smoking breaks. They look legit."

"Okaaaay. So ... what?"

"They bring the new appliances in, in the boxes and they take the old ones out in the same boxes. No one would know that you, and not say, a dishwasher or the refrigerator was in the box." Tank and Ranger both watched me carefully to gauge me reaction.

The thought of being in a box, in a dark, tight box, I could feel myself running out of air, being confined, no room to move. Stiva! The coffin! I felt ice cold and started to shiver. Ranger scooted over and put his arms around me as I went from shivering to trembling to shaking. Tears welled up in my eyes and I couldn't breathe. My heart started to race, it was pounding, and I felt like I should be running, but there was no place to go. I started to hyperventilate and I wanted to scream. Panic was overwhelming me!

Ranger was holding me by the shoulders and shaking me. "Babe, Babe. Forget it, we'll come up with something else. Don't worry, it'll be fine. It'll be okay, I promise. Take it easy, just breathe, just breathe. That's it, nice and easy, take it slow. Everything will be fine, I promise, I promise." He held me tightly, stroking my hair, my back, my arms, rocking me gently, murmuring to me over and over until I calmed down.

I went into the bedroom and pulled out a small bag throwing in all the essentials. Packing was easy. A pair of jammies, since I obviously couldn't sleep in panties and a t-shirt, not with Joe and Lester there, clothes for tomorrow, makeup and toiletries, hair stuff, the padding, wig, and 'fat clothes'. I was done in less than 5 minutes.

I needed to call Niko, but there was no such thing as privacy around here, so I'd just have to take my chances. I sat on the edge of the bed and pulled out my cell phone. I looked at it sitting in my hand. Some part of me felt like this was a betrayal of Ranger, that I couldn't share this with him. The other part argued back that I had given my word and Ranger had years of things he couldn't or wouldn't tell me about. I only hesitated a second before I punched in Niko's number.

He answered on the second ring. "Stephanie?"

"Hi Niko. I only have a minute." I kept my voice just above a whisper.

"How are you doing, Steph? I've heard the street talk. Can we do anything to help?"

"Actually, Niko, that's why I called. Costas and Stavros have been spotted and RangeMan thinks that they're here as hitmen. I can't clear up the confusion without giving away the Ramos Family connection. You need to pull them out of here so that they don't get caught in the crossfire."

"Stephanie, I understand. But they knew the risks when they took this job. They're willing to make that sacrifice if necessary." Niko spoke so matter of factly.

"That may be true, Niko. But I'm not. I couldn't live with that. Please don't put me in that kind of position. I gave Alexander my word and I would hate to go back on it over something like this."

"Very well. I'll call them off, but I don't like it, especially with some of the people who are in Trenton looking for you. If you reconsider, call me back."

"Thank you Niko. Give my best to your uncle and you take care."

"Your welcome, beautiful. Be careful and watch your back."

I closed the phone and just sat looking at it in my hand.

"Heavy thoughts, Babe?" I jumped, guiltily. He was standing on the other side of the bed and I had to wonder how long he'd been there. I didn't think that he'd just stand and eavesdrop, but then this was a strange situation we were in. Who knew what any of us would do at this point?

I turned to look up at him as he came around the bed. He put on knee on the edge and his arms around me, lifting me onto the bed and laying down next to me. He threw one leg over mine and pulled me into his arms, brushing my hair out of my face and kissing me deeply.

Eventually he whispered into my hair, "Do you trust me, Babe? Do you trust me to never do anything to hurt you?" He sounded so sad, almost anguished. "Do you?"

I reached up and cupped his face in my hands, searching it to see if I could find where this pain was coming from. "You're my everything, Carlos. I trust you with my life, with my body, with my heart. I trust you with every fiber of my being. I love you. Without you, I'd be lost."

He held me so tightly I almost couldn't breathe. "I don't want to be away from you tonight, Babe. I want to keep watch over you while you sleep. I want to hold you and wrap myself around you, shield you, comfort you, protect you. I don't ever want you to be frightened or think that I wouldn't do everything in my power to keep you safe. No matter what the cost, Babe. Remember that, no matter WHAT the cost. My life for yours, Stephanie. Always."

I couldn't stop the tears. I didn't want to. He was everything to me and I held him as tightly as I could. I whispered over and over, "I love you." There were no other words. We lay there in each others arms, touching and kissing, for the longest time. Eventually there was a soft knock at the door and Ella's voice saying that she had brought dinner. Ranger called a 'thank you' to her, but neither of us wanted to move.

Finally, my stomach grumbled and Ranger laughed softly and pressed a kiss on my neck. He pulled me up off the bed and led me out of the bedroom. We were almost at the door when he turned to me and looked into my face, so intently. "Remember what we talked about, Babe. Later on, remember what we talked about." He kissed me then, like he might never kiss me again. A small flame of fear curled in my belly, and for the first time, I was really afraid.

Tank was in the living room opening a bottle of wine. Ella had set out our dinner on the coffee table and the three of us sat and ate. Ella had made one of my favorites, grilled shrimp on wild rice in a white wine and lemon sauce, roasted veggies, and hot, crusty bread. Tank said that there was chocolate mousse in the fridge.

Ranger fed me the mousse, spoon by spoon, while Tank did a running commentary on how pussy whipped The Boss was. Ranger and I laughed, knowing that when we finally did get together, Trenton was gonna experience it's very first earthquake. We were gonna give new meaning to the phrase 'the earth moved.'

Tank poured me a glass of the wine that Ella had brought up. Ranger and Tank wouldn't indulge since they were going out onto Stark Street tonight and needed to be sharp and on their toes. The wine was wonderful and I started to feel a warm glow after only half a glass. I sipped some more.

We still hadn't figured out how I was going to be smuggled out of the building, and I was about to ask what the plan was when the apartment door opened and Bobby walked in, followed by two of the Boston guys with a refrigerator box on a dolly. Bobby took one look at me and muttered, "Oh shit!"

I whipped around to find Ranger looking at me with an expression of sadness and regret on his face. "Babe ... " He reached out to me but I tried to jump up from the couch. My legs wouldn't cooperate, I was dizzy and my hands wouldn't hold the glass. The wine! There was something in the wine! I looked at the wine, then up into his face. "No, no ... you promised," I sobbed. Ranger reached out to take the glass from my trembling fingers. Everything was getting blurry and my eyes didn't want to stay open. "Don't fight it, Babe. Just let it happen."

Realization washed over me, they were going to put me in that box, seal me into that dark box, into that coffin. I started to scream and fight. I had to get away, but the room kept tipping. Ranger put his arms around me but I put my hands on his chest and tried to push him away, screaming, "NO ... No ... no ..."

His voice came from so very far away. "Trust me, Babe. Trust me ... "

TBC ...

Please review and let me know what you think. Have you read and reviewed "The Devil and Miss Plum"? It's got real Ranger and Steph smut, practice for the end of this story. Ranger wants to know how you like the smut! After all, it was all his idea!


	25. Fighting Fish!

Disclaimer: They all belong to Janet Evanovich, except the ones who are mine!

Warnings: You name it, you've been warned!

A/N: Christie, our Fan Fiction Goddess, what would I do without you? I heart U! Thanks to all the readers and reviewers. I'm still a review slut, so please keep 'em coming.

Thanks for reading and reviewing 'The Devil and Miss Plum'!

As The Worm Turns!

Stayce (XJerseyGirl)

Chapter 25: Fighting Fish!

I dragged myself up slowly from a deep sleep. My dreams had been filled with hands reaching out to grab me; of trying to run away but my legs wouldn't cooperate. Dreams of clawing my way out of Stiva's coffin, struggling for air. I had been fighting a nightmare and I was exhausted.

I could feel the dried tear tracks on my face and my eyelids were so heavy they wouldn't open. My tongue was thick in my dry mouth. The dull headache that throbbed in the back of my head set the stage for the ache in my heart. I felt a blanket of sadness and depression that laid so heavily on me that it was hard to breathe and I didn't even have the energy to try to open my eyes.

I turned over onto my back and rubbed my hands over my face, finally prying my eyes open. I was in a bedroom, nothing fancy, but nice furniture, big TV, good sheets, clean, comfortable.

I was in the safe house, and even though I couldn't remember it, I knew exactly how I got here.

The drapes were pulled across the windows but I could tell that it was still dark. It was gonna be a long night. As I laid there I could still hear Ranger's voice echoing over and over in the back of my head, "Trust me. It'll be alright, I promise. I promise."

I never could have imagined it would come to this. If I had, I would have prepared myself, I would have braced myself for that blow. I would have expected it and even if he had caught me off guard, I could have at least said to myself that I should have know it was coming. But he blind sided me. He lied to me, and I trusted him so completely I never even suspected he would do that. I was too old to be this naive.

I wanted to cry but the tears wouldn't come. Instead, I made the physical effort to sit up; my body felt like it was made out of lead and my head floated around near the ceiling like a helium balloon. I sat for a minute with my head in my hands, trying to clear my foggy brain but nothing was helping.

Why did he do this to me? Worse yet, how could I have been stupid enough to fall for it? All that stuff in the bedroom, all the, "Oh I want to wrap myself around you ... I want to comfort you ... I want to protect you." It had all been lies. It was just a distraction. He probably practiced in front of a mirror to make sure he looked and sounded sincere. He doesn't talk like that! All that mushy shit? Holy God!! What a dope I am! I fell for it hook, line and sinker. I felt _so_ stupid.

I realized now that I couldn't trust any of them. Tank, Bobby, Lester ... they were all Ranger's men and would do whatever he told them to do. They were like those bobble head dolls on car dashboards that just nod their heads. All the guys knew that since Stiva locked me in that coffin, my greatest fear was being trapped in a tight, dark space. I guess my fears were overshadowed by what Ranger wanted. I found that out last night, the hard way. Another lesson learned about being part of the team. I guess that I'm gonna have to start my own team, I thought sadly, one that would be loyal to me.

It dawned on me that I wasn't angry. Where was the outrage I should have felt? Where was the fury? I wanted to be angry, I _needed_ to be angry! I knew what to do with that! Being mad energized me. It would make me want to hop out of this bed and tear the first poor bastard who came through that door into dog food. I'd gut them and leave them bleeding on the floor, then laugh as I stepped over the body. But I didn't feel any of that. All I wanted to do was curl up into a ball and hide under the bed. I wanted to sleep until it all went away. I never felt like this before, and it scared me.

I heard a small noise and the bedroom door opened. I watched through the curtain of curly hair that hung over my face. Lester came in and walked over to sit on the edge of the bed. He had a mug in his hand and held it out to me. "Hey Bombshell, I thought you could use some tea." I stayed where I was, with my head on my knees, and ignored him.

He seemed surprised at my reaction to him. "Steph, what's the matter? You feel that bad?"

He tried again. "Look Bomber, Ranger said that if you felt hungover, you'd want McDonald's. Do you want me to get that for you? Tell me what you need and I'll get it. Aspirin, Tylenol, Advil, whatever. Steph?" He reached out to touch my arm and I pulled it away from him. I wasn't drinking that tea, I wasn't eating McDonald's, I wouldn't touch anything they gave me. The last thing I wanted was to be drugged again. "I'm just gonna leave the cup here. You let me know if you need anything, okay?" He stood there for a minute and then just turned and left.

As soon as the door closed I stumbled across the room and turned the key in the lock. It wouldn't keep any of them out, but at least they couldn't just walk in on me without warning. I was lightheaded and dizzy and the room was spinning. I put my ear against the door and listened. I could hear Lester's voice; it sounded like he was on the phone, probably with Ranger. It wasn't a long conversation and I will say that he sounded concerned. I couldn't hear everything he said because it sounded like he was pacing, but I did catch a couple things. I heard him say, "not good ... pale ... and won't talk to me."

I looked around the bedroom and realized that my purse and bag weren't here. Shit! I wanted my gun and cell phone. It was an awful feeling to want to have protection from the people, who up to last night, I trusted with my life. I hated that they thought it was okay to gang up on me and take away my free will, to force me to do something. I don't think I had ever felt so alone. But this was almost funny. Who would have ever thought that Stephanie Plum would feel safer _with_ a gun. I wish I could laugh about it.

I went into the bathroom and almost freaked when I caught a look at myself in the mirror. I was downright scary. I looked like death warmed over, even to myself. I was pale and had huge dark circles under my bloodshot eyes. I looked like I'd been on a three day bender. I don't know what they gave me last night but I looked hung over and felt worse. I would have killed for "The Cure" but unless I went and bought it myself, I wasn't gonna trust anything they offered me.

I bent over and drank about a gallon of water from the faucet. My stomach immediately rebelled and I spent, I don't know how long, being violently sick in the toilet. Every time I thought I was done, another round started. I wanted to crawl into the shower in the worst way, but I didn't have the energy. I had to be on my guard. Some guard I made! I was shaking and sweating bullets and all I could do was lay on the cold tile floor next to the toilet.

At some point I heard a high performance engine pull up under the window. I didn't even have the energy to roll my eyes. I knew who that was. I heard the car door slam and swift footsteps come around the side of the house. Great! Just what I needed ... company. I was in no condition to deal with him, unfortunately, I couldn't deal with anything at this point and just laid there on the floor curled up in the fetal position.

I heard the bedroom doorknob rattle, but the door was locked. Maybe he'd just go away. Ranger called my name, his voice was soft and concerned. When I didn't answer, he knocked. At first it was a gentle tap against the door and progressively got louder as I didn't respond.

"Steph." Ranger said, his voice calm but firm. "Stephanie. Open the door."

I heard him say something, to Lester I suppose. Finally he turned back to the door, "Babe, if you don't open the door, I'm going to force it open. At least say something so I'll know that you're alright."

I couldn't have answered if my life depended on it. I couldn't even keep my eyes opened.

"Babe, I'm coming in so if you're near the door, back away so you don't get hurt. Steph? I'm coming in now." I heard him put a foot to the door right above the knob. The door crashed open and hit the wall behind it. His footsteps crossed the room and from my vantage point, flat on the floor, I could see the toes of his boots when he came over to the bathroom doorway.

"Jesus!" In a second he was kneeling over me, brushing my hair off my face, checking my eyes, fingers to my neck checking my pulse. He wet down a towel and ran it over my face and neck and down my arms, but when he tried to sit me up I was hit by another wave of nausea and I hung back over the bowl. There was nothing left in me to throw up and my body was wracked by huge dry heaves, the tears just streamed down my face. When they finally passed Ranger caught me as I sagged back to the floor.

I made a pitiful attempt at pushing him away, telling him I hated him and to leave me alone. He just held me and murmured against my hair, "I know Babe ... I know." When he finally decided that I had hit empty, he lifted me and carried me over to the bed, laying me down and gently tucking me in.

I only remember bits and pieces of the next couple of hours. Ranger and Lester trying to get me to drink something and me fighting them, trying to get away, telling them I wasn't gonna let them drug me again. I don't know who won that fight. I think Bobby came in and I felt a needle stick my arm. Ranger, held me and ran his hand up and down my arm, saying softly, "It'll be alright, Babe, I promise."

He promised, he promised ... my heart broke all over again and I started to cry, softly at first until the wracking sobs took over. I didn't remember any more.

When I woke up it was daylight. Ranger was holding me gently, like he was afraid he'd break me. My head was pounding and my throat was sore and after the workout they had, I should have abs of steel for the rest of my life. I pulled away from Ranger and turned toward the edge of the bed. I wanted to get away from him but I didn't trust my legs to hold me. I was weak and had the shakes and the damn bed wouldn't stop spinning.

I could hear low voices coming from the other room. One voice got louder and I recognized it as Morelli's when he shouted, "What the fuck?" Morelli was snarling, "Manoso! You really are fucking crazy! You drugged her and put her in a box? The thing she's most afraid of? You mother fucker!" as he strode in from the other room.

Joe hesitated for a second when he saw me laying there and muttered, "Oh God, Stephanie," then crossed the floor in two strides. I don't know where I got the strength but I leapt up and flung myself at him. He staggered back a step as my weight hit him full force. I think I climbed Joe like a tree, hiding my face in his neck and wrapping my arms and legs around him.

I have to admit, I was relieved to see him. For all our arguments, differences, and problems I trusted that Joe would never intentionally do anything to physically hurt me. His being here would give me a break from having to deal with Ranger, a chance to clear my head and think straight. Just loud enough for Ranger to hear, I said, "Make him go away." He nodded back at me.

In his best 'cop' voice Joe said, "Manoso. Please step out of the room so I can talk to Stephanie."

"Stephanie and I need to have a talk first. We have a lot to straighten out." Ranger's voice was firm, but neutral.

Ranger stood up from the bed and walked over to stand next to us. He moved to touch my hair and Joe turned me away from him.

"Steph obviously doesn't want you in here. I don't think she's in any condition to straighten out anything right now."

"I want to hear her tell me that herself, Morelli."

If she's telling me what to say to you, I'd take that to mean that she doesn't want to talk to you herself."

"Morelli ..."

Something in me broke. I tried to talk but all that came out were huge, shuddering sobs. Joe moved to sit me down on the edge of the bed and I just hid my face in my hands. Both of them reached out to touch me. With a speed that amazed me, Joe stood up and smashed his fist into Ranger's jaw, catching him completely off guard and making him take a couple of steps back. I jumped up from the bed and stood between them but my knees buckled. Ranger had instinctively fisted his hands and assumed an aggressive stance but immediately relaxed when he realized that no further attack was coming, and he caught me as I fell. Lester came barreling in, but stopped short at a look from Ranger.

Ranger straightened, his blank face in place. "You only get one free shot, Morelli."

"That one was for Stephanie since she can't do it for herself." Morelli said. "Mine will come later."

Ranger looked Morelli in the eye and gave him a small nod. They had reached an understanding. They still had to work together. We all did.

Ranger sat me back down on the bed and gave me a final look, but I couldn't meet his eyes. He left the room, pulling the door shut behind him, and while it didn't latch because of the broken lock, it did stay closed. As soon as we were alone I asked Joe to turn on the TV, adjusting the volume to drown out our conversation.

He came back and squatted in front of me, taking me hands in his and looking deeply into my eyes. His voice was soft and gentle. "Feel as bad as you look, Cupcake?"

I nodded. "Worse."

The expression in Joe's eyes said it all. I didn't think I had any more tears left, but I felt my them well up in my eyes and spill down my cheeks..

"I can't believe I'm gonna say this Cupcake, but you're in love with the man. When we used to fight you'd get angry, pissed, furious, murderous." He smiled at me sadly. "But you never got hurt. You never felt hurt over me." He took a deep breath and blew it out. "You would always pack up and run. Don't run anymore, Steph. This time you have to stay and fix it."

"I don't know how, Joe. I always went into denial. I'd run away and after awhile things would go back to normal and we'd just pretend that nothing happened."

"And that why we're where we are, Steph. You have to stand up on your hind legs and fight for what you want. Even if you're not sure how, you know you have to try."

I couldn't argue with him. My usual routine didn't work. Ignoring and denying weren't gonna fix this. I had to come up with a new plan. When Ranger and I had negotiated our agreement, I had promised not to run away. I guess I had to learn how to fight for what I wanted.

"I need to get cleaned up first, and I need to eat something. Could you get my bag and purse, I don't know where they are?"

"I'll be right back." Joe went out into the living room.

Almost immediately, I heard angry voices coming from the other side of the door. In a few minutes Joe came back in, my bag and suitcase with him. I rummaged around in my bag and found my cell phone and guns. So far, so good. I grabbed clothes and took a quick shower. The pounding water cleared my head and made my aching body feel better. I did the hair and makeup thing and threw on my clothes.

When I walked out of the bathroom, the smell of food hit me and my stomach rolled a little. The bags were on the small table under the window. There was soup and a sandwich and vanilla milk shake, all nice and bland. Lester, swearing that it wouldn't be tampered with, had gone to a local restaurant for take out. I ate it without enthusiasm but had to admit, I felt better.

Joe and I talked about tonight, what I needed to do and how. I'd seen enough TV to know how a Fed acts at a crime scene, so that was no problem. We talked about Carl and Big Dog and Eddie and Mary Lou and Connie and Lula hearing that I was dead. He assured me to that this was absolutes necessary for the whole scheme to be believable. He also pointed out that since this was the Fed's idea, nobody could blame me. It wasn't any real consolation but that made me feel a lot better and I guess I finally relaxed about the whole nasty business.

Then Joe brought up Ranger and all those lovely relaxed feelings went out the window. He was right, of course; I needed to settle things with Ranger fast so that emotion, neither his nor mine, would effect tonight's little tragedy. Like it or not, we had to talk. But I needed to make a point first.

Joe went out to 'warm up the audience' so to speak. I could hear him reading Ranger the riot act and strangely, I didn't hear Ranger saying anything back. I heard Joe tell him that they were both guilty of trying to mold me into what they wanted me to be. I'll bet Ranger just loved that! I also heard Joe say that he backed off because he thought that Ranger could make me happy and give me the life I needed, the not material stuff, but the freedom to fly. I had to smile. Now that it was too late for us, Joe had actually learned something about me.

Ranger tapped on the door and pushed it open slowly. He stood for a minute before he walked into the room. I was standing with my hands on the back of the armchair, looking down at the floor. If I didn't know him better, I would have said that he was nervous, maybe as nervous as I was.

"Can I sit down, Babe?"

I gave a single nod, and Ranger moved over and sat on the end of the bed. I just stayed where I was, looking at the floor between us.

"Babe, you should sit down, too."

I came around the chair and sat, tucking my legs up under me. I really wished I had a pillow to hold, I felt sort of naked without it. I glanced up at him when he wasn't looking and noticed the bruise that was forming on his jaw. Morelli really had socked him good.

"Are you feeling any better now? Your color is back."

I nodded.

"Steph, we both know that I had to get you out of there. If Bobby had walked in just a few minutes later ..."

"Please don't go there, Ranger." I closed my eyes and shook my head.

"You have to know that I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you."

"How can you say that?" I asked, trying not to let all the pain I was feeling seep into my voice. "How can you justify what you did?"

"Steph," Ranger reached out for my hand, but I moved it out of his reach, "look at me."

When I didn't raise my eyes he got up from the bed and squatted in front of me.

"I had a job to do. I couldn't let emotion get in the way, I had to focus on the goal."

"The goal. So the goal was to feed me a line of bullshit that I was stupid enough to believe because I loved and trusted you? The goal that let you drug me and stuff me into a small, dark box, like a coffin? Or how about the goal that allowed you to cart me off someplace like some kind of kidnap victim?" I was on my feet now, pacing, unable to hide the bitterness in my voice. "Is that the goal you're talking about because I just wanna be sure we're both on the same page!"

"I had to protect you at all costs." Ranger's voice was quiet and conversational as if none of this was really bothering him at all.

"You expect me to believe that there was absolutely no other way to get me out of RangeMan." I matched my voice to his.

"Stephanie, I was trying to protect you, not dominate you."

"I think you had a different reason."

"My only reason was to keep you safe?"

I looked up at him, with as neutral an expression as I could muster. "I think you were trying to sabotage 'us'. I think you were looking for the deal breaker."

He hesitated and his eyes met mine. Time stood still, and in that second I knew I hit the nail right on the head. I wasn't prepared to be right and it hurt more than I realized. "I rest my case."

I walked past him, opened the door and went out into a short hall that led to the living room. I found Morelli, Christie, Lester, Tank, and Bobby. They had obviously heard the entire conversation. Ranger followed and just leaned against the wall.

"So now what?" His voice was flat and neutral.

"Now I'll tell you what I'm going to do," I looked around at the group. "Later on Dean will make me up. I'll go to RangeMan tonight and then go back to the same hotel that Christie is staying in. I won't stay here. The Feds can register me under an assumed name and I'll live there like she does. I'll stay in disguise until there's an all clear and then I'll go back to my apartment. I'll work with Christie to find Karvic, and life will go on. If I need a bodyguard, I'm sure that Christie can get a Fed assigned to me, and Joe is always around."

"You mean in addition to RangeMan." He stated it matter of factly.

"No, I don't want anyone from RangeMan assigned to me."

That was quite a bomb I dropped. Every head snapped in my direction. Stunned would be a good description of the reaction. Tank, Bobby, and Lester riveted their attention on me.

"Why?" There was a touch of surprise in his normally neutral voice.

"Because they're your men."

"And you don't trust them?"

"I don't trust you, Ranger." I waited for that to sink in before I continued, "and your men all do anything you tell them to do. I found that out last night. But I guess I should thank all of you." I looked around at the Merry Men. "You taught me a valuable lesson about trust. I put so much faith in all of you to protect me, that I never even thought about protecting myself and I should have." I looked at Ranger. "You were right all along," I said with a sad laugh, "I do need to be more aware of my surroundings." Ranger looked like I slapped him. I could see the hurt in his eyes despite the blank face being in place.

"Babe ..."

"How did you expect me to react?" I said, throwing my hands up in the air. "Did you think that I'd sulk and cry and stamp my foot, and when my tantrum was over, I'd forget it all? I have to start protecting myself, Ranger. I just never thought it would be from all of you."

I walked past him to go back into the bedroom, then I stopped and half turned around. His back was to me. "The saddest part of this whole thing is that as terrified as I would have been, if you had 'asked' me, I would have done it. I would have climbed into that box and let you seal me into that dark, tight, coffin, because I would have done _anything ... anything that you asked me to do_. That's how much I trusted you." I watched his back straighten and I could tell that had gotten to him.

I went back into the bedroom and pushed the door closed. I leaned back against it and slid to the floor and just let the tears come.

For all the times I had broken up with Morelli I had never felt like this. It was like there was a hole where my heart was supposed to be. I had never felt these waves of loss and panic wash over me like this so I sat and rocked against the pain. I had always felt anger, indignation, resentment toward Joe. There had always been a need to get back at him, to even the score. But this, this was something new, and it cut clear through to my soul. For the very first time in my life, I was lost.

It seemed like the floor was my friend today, I had spent more time there than anyplace else. By the time I had run out of tears I was laying in a heap in front of the door. I may have dozed off because I became aware of being slid across the floor by the opening door. Strong arms scooped me up and held me tightly to him. I threaded my fingers into his hair, burying my face in his neck and just absorbed his heat and strength.

Ranger carried me to the bed and laid me down, sitting on the edge next to me. He ran his fingers through my hair over and over in a hypnotic rhythm until my eyelids just couldn't stay open. He touched my face with the tips of his fingers, tracing over my forehead and eyebrows, my eyelids and cheekbones, over my mouth and chin like a blind man, memorizing me. Slowly, he bent down to me and hesitated a moment before he kissed me ever so gently.

I opened my eyes and searched his face. I saw a sadness there that I had never seen before. He looked lost, as lost as I felt.

"Where do we go from here, Steph?" His voice was so low it was barely a whisper.

Before I could say a word, the bedroom door opened and Bobby stuck his head in.

"Sorry Slugger. Ranger, the office just called. Jono Le Blanc wants to talk to you, they're gonna patch his call through to your secure phone."

Ranger was on his feet and stalking out of the room our conversation forgotten. He stopped short and turned back to me. "Come on Steph, this concerns you, too." He held out his hand to me. I got off the bed, grabbed it and let him lead me out into the living room.

Ranger's phone was on the coffee table and everybody else was sitting around looking at it as if it might levitate. Ranger turned to me, "We told you who Le Blanc is. At this moment, he's probably your biggest threat. He needs the money and he needs the notoriety. Plus he hates me. If we can neutralize him, we can all start to breathe again."

"Why does he hate you so much?" I had a terrible feeling I wasn't going to like this answer.

Bobby spoke up first. "I told you that he got shot up pretty badly during a coup attempt. He was paid to assassinate that country's president." Bobby hesitated, unsure of how much to say, but Ranger gave him a nod. "Our government sent a detail to insure that a friendly nation's government remained in power."

I turned and looked at Ranger. He didn't say anything and I didn't need to be told who had shot Jono Le Blanc. I could imagine that he blamed Ranger for everything and wanted to revenge himself against the handsome, wealthy, successful man he saw as the cause of all his troubles. Le Blanc had lost his stature as an international assassin, his wealth, and his lifestyle. By settling the score with Ranger, he could regain everything that he lost. For me, that was a terrifying thought.

The phone started to ring, and Ranger looked at me, putting his finger to his lips. I nodded in understanding. It wouldn't do to let a World Class Assassin know that he had an audience, especially one that included his potential victim.

Ranger picked up his phone. "Manoso." SWAT Ranger was on duty.

"Mon ami! Comment se va?" From the tone of his voice, Le Blanc sounded like an dear, old friend.

"What do you want, Le Blanc. I don't have time for games." Ranger was all business.

"I understand that you have a lady friend who has made a very rich enemy who wishes her ... gone." His voice was oddly cheerful, considering the subject matter.

"And?"

"And I also understand that she has an even richer 'friend', who wishes to insure her safety." Ranger raised his eyebrow at Tank, Bobby, and Lester who all grinned and nodded at each other. RangeMan ESP and I had no idea what was going on.

"I'm sure that you didn't call to chat about my acquaintances, Le Blanc."

Ranger squeezed my hand at the word 'acquaintance'.

"You never were one to make small talk, Ricardo. Very well then, I believe that I have a mutually beneficial proposition to make and I think it would be in everyone's best interests for us to meet and discuss it."

Tank and Ranger exchanged a look. Tank touched his watch and held up ten fingers to indicate a time. Ranger nodded back in agreement.

"When do you want to meet?"

"I would say as soon as possible."

"You can come to RangeMan at 10 pm tonight. That's the best I can do."

Ranger's voice remained business-like and neutral.

"And you will guarantee my safe passage, yes? You know that I would not appreciate any unpleasant surprises."

"You have my word that neither I nor any of my employees will take any action against you, unless of course, you cause a problem."

"Well, I suppose that is the best I can expect from you. But I know that you are good to your word. You know me too well to play games, eh Ricardo?" His laugh made me shiver, it was that evil.

"I know precisely what you are capable of, Le Blanc."

"A bientot, mon ami!" And he laughed as he hung up.

As soon as Ranger hung up, everyone sprang into action. Tank was barking orders into his phone involving elevated security levels at RangeMan. Bobby was talking to Luis Guzman, Ella's husband, giving him instructions about preparing Ranger's 6th floor Corporate office for the meeting tonight. Lester called Cal about the internal security system. Christie was on the phone with the Fed's and Morelli talked to the Task Force. The only ones without a cell phone attached to their ears were Ranger and me.

I guess the answers to my questions about our relationship were going to have to wait. The questions about this operation couldn't. Ranger still held my hand in his, and he gave it a little shake and tipped his head toward the kitchen, one eyebrow arched. I gave a nod.

I sat at the table and Ranger poured us each a mug of coffee and put the cream and sugar in front of me. I doctored mine and hesitated for the merest second before I took a sip. Ranger reached over and took the mug out of my hand and took a drink, shuddering at the sugar, before handing it back to me.

I took a sip and I asked Ranger if he knew what Le Blanc wanted to talk to him about. Ranger nodded.

"First though, we need to talk about the ... scene outside RangeMan tonight. Did Christie or Morelli go over everything with you? Do you know what you're supposed to do?"

"Yeah, and I've watched enough TV to be able to pull it off. Walk the grid, look for 'clues', check out the crowd without them knowing it. Stuff like that. It should be easy, it's not like I'm supposed to be a CSI or anybody with specialized skills."

"So you aren't nervous about this whole thing?"

"If you mean about being recognized, no. Dean's disguise is great, it let's me talk and move normally and if Eddie didn't recognize me ..." I finished the sentence with a shrug.

Ranger half stood and leaned down, grabbing my chair by the seat and hauling it around the table, closer to him. He sat back down and took my hands in his, studying them carefully before he started to speak. He acted like he was choosing his words carefully. He was quiet a long time, then raised my hands to his lips and kissed the back of each.

"She looks just like you." He shook his head slightly and frowned. His eyes flicked up to mine. "The stunt woman."

I was pretty sure I knew who he was talking about, but I was surprised that this bothered him when so many other things didn't.

He took a deep breath and blew it out. "I saw her this morning after Dean did her makeup. If she doesn't walk or talk, she's your double. It's absolutely bizarre. He turned her around on the stool and she looked at me with those big blue eyes ... it gave me quite a jolt."

"I wonder whether I'll see the similarity or whether it's only other people who can see it? It should be interesting to see myself like you do, for instance." I gave him a rueful smile.

"Babe, she's made up to look like you if you were dead, not ready for a ball." He touched my face gently.

"Oh yeah. I kinda forgot about that. That'll be the hard part, looking at dead me."

"You have no idea," he said softly, his sad eyes on me. "You have no idea."

Tank and Bobby and Lester came into the kitchen. They were all very serious, no joking or kidding. I don't think it was because of what was going to happen tonight. I think it was because of what happened last night, and that they knew I no longer trusted them the way I used to. I was glad to see that they looked like they felt a little uncomfortable.

Ranger looked at me for the longest time, then shook his head as if to clear it. "Did you see the picture of Jono?"

I nodded. "It was in the file of hitmen that Bobby showed me last night. Why does he want to meet with you? Any idea what his mutually beneficial proposal is?"

"I have a pretty good idea." But he didn't say anything else.

"Well?"

"He's gonna tell me that for the million dollars, he _won't_ kill you."

I guess I just stared at him open mouthed. I have no idea what I expected him to say, but it sure as hell wasn't this. I think I did a pretty good imitation of a goldfish, just gulping air through my mouth.

"Well, you can't just hand him a million dollars, so what will you do?"

"No. I'm sure it'll be a wire transfer to the Caymans or some off shore account."

I jumped up so fast that I knocked my chair over. "You can't give him a million dollars! I won't let you. In the first place, do you know how many zeros that is? And how would I ever pay you back? In my whole life I won't earn a million dollars! And ... and ..." I was working up to another good crying jag.

Ranger stood up and grabbed me, giving me a single hard shake. My voice just kinda died in my throat. "Breathe!" he commanded me, and I drew a couple of jagged breaths.

He dipped his head to look me in the eyes. "There is no price ... ever." He just wrapped me in his arms and held me. "Only you, Babe. Only you would be more concerned over the money than over your own life. You never cease to amaze me."

Christie came into the kitchen at that point. "Sorry to break up the party guys, but Dean should be here any minute. He has to teach you to do this makeup yourself, so he wanted some extra time."

"We need a few minutes." Ranger put his hand on the back of my neck and steered me out of the kitchen and into the bedroom. He leaned back against the door. "We have unfinished business, Babe."

"We always have unfinished business, Ranger." We smiled a little sadly at each other. I slipped my arms around his waist and hid my face in his neck, just breathing in his scent. As hurt as I had been and still was, this man could make me feel safe and protected and loved. I couldn't explain it, I knew it made no sense. But there it was. I didn't know how to forgive him, but I couldn't figure out how I'd live without him.

I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath. "Ranger," I said softly, "if you're regretting our agreement, if you're looking to get out of the deal, tell me now while I still have some hope of surviving you. Don't drag it out. Just say it and get it over with."

He pulled me tighter to his chest with a groan and rested his cheek against mine. He was quiet for so long that I thought he wasn't going to speak. My heart just hammered in my chest and I started to feel sick again. Finally, I lifted my head so I could look at him, but he wouldn't meet my gaze.

"Babe, we all make mistakes. You have to know that I never intended to hurt you but ... "

TBC ...

Please review. Steph and Ranger take turns reading the reviews to each other while they have breakfast in bed. Please don't disappoint them!


	26. Angel Fish!

Disclaimer: Janet Evanovich owns them all, except mine.

Warnings: You name it, you've been warned.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed. I appreciate it and so do Ranger and Steph. They say that the reviews are an aphrodisiac ... who knew? Please keep 'em coming ... no pun intended!

As The Worm Turns!

Chapter 26: Angel Fish!

_I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath. "Ranger," I said softly, "if you're regretting our agreement, if you're looking to get out of the deal, tell me now while I still have some hope of surviving you. Don't drag it out. Just say it and get it over with."_

_He pulled me tighter to his chest with a groan and rested his cheek against mine. He was quiet for so long that I thought he wasn't going to speak. My heart just hammered in my chest and I started to feel sick again. Finally, I lifted my head so I could look at him, but he wouldn't meet my gaze. _

_"Babe, we all make mistakes. You have to know that I never intended to hurt you but ... "_

Chapter 26:

I had always been the Queen of Denial and it had always worked well for me. For as long as I could remember no matter what tragedy befell me, Denial had been my best friend. Anything that required an emotional response could be denied. It was my security blanket. I denied that I had fallen, not flown, I denied that a young Morelli had used me to explore his first primal stirrings, and I denied that a callous Morelli had popped my cherry with no more thought than when he popped open a Coke. I denied the humiliation of his poems on the men's room walls and the heartbreak and humiliation of the phone call that never came. I denied my failed marriage, and my career embarrassments. I had denied the pain when Ranger walked out of my bedroom the morning after, and the surprise of finding I was a line item on an entertainment budget. I denied that I was worth a condom, not a ring. Denial was my gift and I couldn't understand why it had abandoned me now when I needed it most.

I had stretched out on the bed in my thinking position, praying for sleep, but it never came. The last twenty-four hours played over and over on the inside of my eyelids and Ranger's voice narrated the whole ugly mess. I could still hear his voice, "Trust me ... I want to hold you... I want to protect you ... I promise ..." I heard his voice inside my head as clearly as if he had been whispering in my ear. I couldn't escape it and every time it echoed off my heart, another little piece chipped off. All those sad little pieces. I wondered if I could pick them all up and glue them back together or was I like Humpty Dumpty and all the King's horses and all the King's men, couldn't put Stephanie's heart back together again?

Everybody knows what heartache means. I just never realized that it meant real pain. I had an ache in my chest that kept time with my heartbeat and I didn't know how to make it go away. Everything that I thought I knew, everything that I had believed in, had come crashing down around my ears. I kept trying to find something to latch on to, some anchor to keep me from drifting away, but every time I would try to grasp at something, it would slip through my fingers and disappear like smoke.

By now my head was pounding and I crawled out of bed in search of some Advil. I looked in the bathroom and didn't turn up anything helpful so I decided to ask Lester, much as I didn't want to. It struck me that the bedroom I was in wasn't as impersonal as the other safe houses I'd seen. All the necessities were here, of course, but it wasn't the neutral, impersonal place I expected. From what I had seen, the rest of the house was the same way. Comfortable leather furniture, a plasma screen TV, a stereo system to die for, and personal items filled the living room. The kitchen had a top of the line espresso maker on the granite counter top, with very sleek, modern cabinets. The upgrades that made me think this place was a lot more than a safe house. It looked like somebody's home.

I wandered into the kitchen where Lester was making a fresh pot of coffee and leaned against the door jamb. He looked up and gave me a small smile.

"Something you need Bombshell?"

"Yeah. Got any Advil or aspirin or anything like that?"

"Sure. Sit and I'll get it for you."

He came over to the table and set a bottle of Advil in front of me along with a bottle of water he got from the fridge. He opened the Advil and spilled them all out on the table, rounding them up into a little pile. "Pick out two for me and two for you, Bomber. The water's sealed. I'd open it for you, but I think you need to do that for yourself." I nodded in response and handed him the pills and the opened water. He tossed the Advil into his mouth and slugged them down with half the bottle of water, then handed it back to me and I did the same.

"Thanks for that, Lester." By taking them himself, he had just proven to me that the Advil and water weren't drugged. We sat for a minute or two in silence. I looked around the room, then back at him. "This isn't a safe house, is it. I mean it isn't 'just' a safe house."

Lester looked at me and shook his head, then he smiled slightly. "It's my house. I bought it as a fixer-upper about 2 years ago now. We didn't want you to have to go to a safe house because they're about as warm and cozy as a motel. We decided that you should be home with one of us. After all, you're family."

"You draw the short straw?"

Lester was picking up the Advil one at a time and plopping them back in the bottle. He didn't look up, just shook his head and chuckled. Very patiently he said, "No Steph, I won."

I actually felt tears prick the back of my eyes. I had always felt such a closeness to these guys. God, I wanted everything to go back to the way it was yesterday before this all started.

"Can we talk, Steph? I mean a serious talk?"

He reached across the table to take my hand. I stiffened a little, not quite pulling away, but he saw it and drew his hand back. "Steph, I've been elected by the team to talk to you about what happened last night." I didn't say anything, just looked at him and chewed my lip. I didn't know if I was ready for this. "We know that you're hurt and upset and think that we ... ganged up on you ... again. But I swear, none of us knew that drugging you was part of the plan. By the time we found out, it was already a done deal and there was nothing we could do about it. I know what you're thinking, that we're Carlos' men, and we are. But as loyal as we are to him, we're not puppets and none of us would ever do anything to hurt you. He wouldn't ask us to."

I studied him for a second or two. He looked absolutely sincere. But truthfully, I was so gunshy at this point, I don't think I would have trusted anything my own mother told me. I was afraid to believe anything. I was afraid if I did, it would blow up in my face, too.

"Steph, I've known Carlos a long time. Every day, in the line of work we're in, I have to stake my life on the kind of a man he is. I know what you mean to him and I know that he'd rather lay down his life than hurt you. I watched him when he found out that Cone had you at his factory, I saw him fly out of RangeMan like he was running with the hounds of hell when the Slayers had you, and he was like a man possessed for those hours that you were missing when Stiva kidnaped you. We both know that he killed for you, and he'd die for you too, but he wouldn't hurt you."

I crossed my arms on the table and laid my chin down on them. More than anything in the world I wanted to believe everything that Lester said about Ranger. Maybe in my heart of hearts I did. But I was having trouble reconciling the gentle man who held me so tenderly, who would offer up a million dollars for my life, who spared no expense for my safety, with the man who would so callously trample over me just to get the job done.

I had asked Ranger if he wanted an out. "Just tell me," I begged him. "Just say the words and get it over with." I remember I was holding my breath, waiting for him to speak. _"Babe, we all make mistakes. You have to know that I never intended to hurt you but ... " _Then Tank was beating on the door, yelling about an explosion at RangeMan, a bomb in the garage, vehicles on fire, evacuating the building, men down, more explosions.

Ranger had turned to me and held my face in his hands. "No price, Babe. Ever. No matter what, my life for yours." He kissed me like it would be the last time, no soft gently kiss, but hungry and desperate. His voice was rough when he whispered, "Never forget, I love you." Then he was gone.

We turned on the TV and it was all over the news. Oily black smoke billowed out of the underground garage and up the sides of the building, vehicles on fire, debris in the street. Fire Trucks, EMTs, the Bomb Squad, cops holding back crowds of onlookers. Ranger and Tank running for the front door, being stopped and held back by Firemen in respirators, it was a circus. And this time, it really was all my fault.

If only I could sleep until it was all better. But both sleep and denial escaped me and I was forced to face the whole thing wide awake. For the first time in my life I actually had to deal with my problems instead of tucking them away until they disappeared. I was doing a pretty lousy job of it. Lack of experience, I suppose.

Without raising my head I said, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, Bomber. You can ask me anything."

I cleared my throat, prepared to be embarrassed to death. "Who put the pajamas on me?" I watched his face split into a huge grin.

"Carlos did. He carried you in here, all wrapped up in a blanket, looking for all the world like a little kid who had fallen asleep in the car on the way home. Bobby told me tha ...

My head shot up off my arms. "Whoa ... what? What do you mean Ranger carried me in here? I thought they put me in a box and shipped me off?"

Lester looked confused. "They did, Steph, but Carlos was with you. That was the plan all along, he wasn't gonna put you in there by yourself. Is that what you thought? Jesus Christ! He knows you don't even like to get on the elevator by yourself since the Stiva thing. Didn't anybody tell you?"

We looked at each other in absolute shock and surprise. Lester, because nobody had told me this before and me, because nobody had told me this before. I was suddenly freezing cold. "Are you sure?" I managed to choke out. "Are you sure that was the plan?"

"Of course I am! I'm the one that got the box. I knew it had to be big enough for the both of you. I went to the appliance store and bought the fridge based on the size of the carton. They thought I was nuts because I didn't want to know about the features or the color, just the size of the box it came in."

"Bobby's job was to load you two up and get the Boston guys to get you out to the truck. You were supposed to be taken back to the appliance warehouse, transferred to a car and then brought here. He said that he came into the apartment and realized that you were drugged. He figured it was because of th ..." He stopped cold and looked at my confused face. "Holy shit, you don't know about that either, do you?"

I was afraid to ask and my voice came out as a whisper. "Know what? Tell me."

Lester tipped back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. I could tell that he was busy connecting the dots, but I still had no clue what it was that he knew, that I still didn't. He took a deep breath and blew it out. He brought the chair back level and leaned forward, his elbows on the table. "Morelli called from the station. The cops got a tip that there was a bomb at RangeMan. The caller said they had 30 minutes to clear the building before the bomb went off. They had to get you out of there, and like it or not, I guess they used the fastest way. You were already gone by the time the Bomb Squad got there and forced an evacuation of the building. Obviously one of your 'fans' was trying to flush you out."

"Did they find anything?"

"Yeah. Two pipe bombs attached to the support posts in the garage. Nobody can figure out how they got past the security systems. The Bomb Squad dismantled them, though."

"And the explosion tonight?"

"No warning on that. Tank called, 6 injured but only Woody was hurt badly enough to be hospitalized. They think the bomb was a remote control device that was put in a vehicle."

My head sagged down to my folded arms again and I just let the tears come, I didn't have the energy to try to stop them. I cried more in the last day than in the whole rest of my life put together. Lester reached across the table and took my icy hands in his, rubbing them between his own, and I didn't pull away this time.

I didn't understand. Why didn't Ranger tell me himself? He told me he wanted to wrap himself around me, to comfort and protect me. And he had. He had kept his word, at least about that part. Why did he let me think that I was sealed into that box all by myself, like it was my coffin? Why didn't he explain about the bomb threat, if not last night, than today? Did he think I wouldn't believe him? I just couldn't wrap my aching head around the whole thing.

Lester helped me up and back into the bedroom. He laid me down on the bed and covered me, just sitting on the edge of the bed absently running his hand in circles on my back. I cried myself dry, and finally, when I had nothing more to give, the sleep that had eluded me finally came.

I don't know how long I slept, but when Lester woke me up at least my headache was gone. I still felt like hell, but I think that was from sadness and depression and just plain confusion. I had no idea what to do with those feelings and I had the overwhelming need to run away. Fortunately I was smart enough to realize that no matter how far or how fast I ran, I couldn't run away from my own heart.

Lester woke me because Christie arrived with Dean and his bag of makeup tricks. She also brought enough Chinese food to feed a small army. I took a quick shower while Christie and Lester and Dean set the table and laid out the food. We sat and had a leisurely dinner, and I listened to the others make small talk.

It was time for Dean to go to work and me to go to disguise school. Since I would have to stay in disguise until we caught Karvic, and we had no idea how long that would be, I had to learn to do this for myself. I sat in front of the mirror and watched myself morph into Sandy Schulmann, the middle aged FBI Special Agent.

Dean laid out all the makeup, brushes, glue, facial prosthetics, mouth pieces, and a full drawing of my face that looked like a map for the application of the makeup. He cleaned my face with a special solution and started with the 2 small rubber pieces. There was one for my forehead, one went over the bridge of my nose. He applied the glue and showed me how to press them into place, tapping the edges with my finger tips to give them a smooth seal.

Dean slowed down his normally high speed age progression and carefully explained every step of the process to me, again. He read the detailed notes I was taking and corrected any mistakes I made. If I was going to be responsible for my own make up, Dean was going to be damned sure that I did it right! When he finished the transformation, he grilled me on the techniques, and when I passed the test, he immediately removed every iota of makeup and made me do it myself. Then he sat down and watched like a hawk while I tried to recreate Sandy Schulmann by myself.

Now, as a Jersey Girl, I had a solid foundation in Makeup ... no pun intended. Let's face it, cut us and we bleed Cover Girl, Revlon, and L'Oreal. Any ten year old worth her salt can argue the pros and cons of lash thickening versus lash lengthening mascara. Mothers stress the importance of the right makeup to their baby girls still in the womb and in the delivery room, along with her birth certificate, a newborn Jersey Girl also gets an official color analysis. As well as being able to say that we Catholic or Jewish or Protestant, we can tell you that we're a Spring or a Winter or Autumn as well. It's a way of life.

I surprised myself with how quickly and easily I was able to recreate Sandy. I even impressed Dean, which says a lot for my makeup skills. The brown contacts, glasses and greying wig, the mouth pieces, padding and 'fat' clothes could all wait until just before I was ready to leave. My 'body' wouldn't be dumped until after 10 tonight, so we still had hours to wait. Christie and I wouldn't show up for an hour after that.

Christie came in to see how I was doing. She studied my makeup and said that if she didn't know it was me, she wouldn't know it was me. Christie had to drop off Dean and make a run to the Federal Building downtown to pick up false credentials and a fake ID for me.

I thought about the fake ID. Hell, the last time I had a fake ID, I was a senior in high school. Lenny had gotten them for Mary Lou and me so that we could get into the bars in Point Pleasant that summer. Saint Val had found it and ratted me out to my mother. That had been one hell of a fight! I'm pretty sure I tried to kill Valerie, the sanctimonious snot, who had her own fake ID but had it so well hidden I could never find it and turn her in to the Parent Police. My mother wouldn't believe she had one, because Val was the 'good daughter' who would NEVER do anything like that to her mother. Turns out she kept it in the case with her diaphragm. She wasn't any better than me, just way sneakier. I was grounded for the entire month of June. In July, Grandma Mazur paid Lenny to get me another fake ID. It was a great summer!

My stroll down memory land didn't do anything to improve my mood, I still felt like I was one raw nerve. The nostalgia made me think about all the friends that I shared my life with, all those people who would think that I was dead, and the guilt weighed on me. I grabbed my phone and curled up on the bed. One after another I called the people I loved. I called Mary Lou and Connie and Lula. I chatted with Eddie and my Mom and Dad. I told each one that I loved them.

I sat and stared at the phone in my hand. Ranger had never really answered my question. I still didn't know if he wanted out of our agreement. We were standing with our arms around each other, and I was so afraid of the words that were gonna come out of his mouth. On one hand I didn't want him to tell me that he made a mistake, that he didn't want me. On the other, I didn't know if I could get passed what happened. Still, all the things I thought were true, that he lied to me, betrayed me, little by little I was finding out really weren't what I thought they were. I was so confused, I had no idea what I wanted. Yeah, I did. I wanted things to be the way they were two days ago. I wanted to feel safe and secure in his love for me, in the comfort of my friendship with the Merry Men. I wanted to turn back the clock.

I was sitting there trying to sort things out, when Lester tapped on the door. Since there was still no lock or even doorknob, it swung open as he tapped. He had a phone in his hand and he held it up. "Ranger wants to know if you'll talk to him, Bomber?"

I scrambled off the bed to take the phone and Lester pulled the door closed after himself.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "Hi, are you okay?" was all I could muster.

"Babe." His weary voice was laced with concern.

"How is everybody."

I could picture him rubbing his forehead. "Hector has some superficial burns, Hal has a dislocated shoulder, one of the Boston guys has a concussion. Woody had surgery for internal injuries, but he'll be fine. Ella and a couple of firemen were treated for smoke inhalation. All in all we were lucky."

"I know it's my fault. They're trying to find me. If I had backed off from Kar..."

"Stephanie, stop it! Stop blaming yourself! You did the right thing and you know it. Stop blaming yourself for things you can't control."

I knew he was right, but still ... "Thank you for keeping my parents safe. If these lunatics would attack RangeMan, I don't want to think about what they'd be willing to do to my family."

"No thanks necessary, Babe. Their safety is as important to me as yours is."

"Is there much damage?"

"Enough. Your SUV blew, another victim for the Stephanie Plum Memorial Auto Graveyard. One of the cops got very rich off this one." I could almost hear a smile in his voice. "Cal's truck, 2 of the Bronco's, and Tank's H2 are all gone. The whole place needs to be repaired and repainted, but the building's okay structurally."

"The Mercedes and the Porsche?" Silence. "Ranger?"

I didn't think it was possible, but tears slipped down my cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Ranger. I'm destroying all the things that are important to you."

"Things, Babe. Just things. Don't cry. You're the most important thing to me ... the only thing that can't be replaced is you." He was silent for a minute. "I wish I could get back there but I don't want to take any chances on being followed. You weren't in the building, so whoever it was will figure out that you're stashed someplace."

"I understand."

"I want you to be extra careful tonight. I don't care what happens, I want you to promise me not to let anybody get you alone. Morelli and Christie will be there, stick with them, okay? Le Blanc will be watching me for my reaction so I'm gonna try not to make eye contact with you. I don't want to give anything away."

"I promise I'll be careful. But you have to be careful too. No heroics, hear me Batman?" I took a deep breath. "Ranger ... I love you, you know. I can't replace you either."

He was quiet for awhile. I could hear him breathing softly, then clear his throat before he spoke. "Do you, Babe? Despite it all, do you still love me?"

"You know I do. How could I not? I told you I didn't sign on for easy. We're worth fighting for."

We said our good-byes and hung up. I felt better, but it wasn't the conversation I wanted to have. That would come later, I guess. I really didn't sign on for easy, I thought I was prepared for difficult. I just didn't have any idea how hard difficult was gonna be. But 'we' were worth for and it looked like it was building up to be one hell of a battle.

Christie came back with my phoney FBI credentials and ID. She also brought a windbreaker with FBI emblazoned across the back and a hat with the FBI logo. Lester added to the collection, handing me a shoulder holster and Glock that Ranger had left for me. I had my Beretta in the ankle holster and the Sig on my hip. I guess that qualified as well armed. Weapons wise, I was as ready as I was ever gonna be.

We sat around and talked about the procedures I'd have to go through tonight. Christie stressed the need for me to be calm and relaxed, like I had done this a million times. Showing surprise or excitement or getting upset could give me away. I ran it through me head like a mantra, 'Cool, calm, collected,' over and over again. If I said it enough maybe I'd convince myself.

Christie helped me get into my padding, which while light weight, took me from my normal size 6, to a 10. Not that size 10 was fat by any means, but it was a lot larger than I was these days. I pulled on khaki slacks and a white button down long sleeved shirt, navy blazer and my boots. Add the windbreaker and the hat, the weapons and I was good to go. I had a note pad and pencil and a small recorder and flashlight in my pocket, my small handbag would stay in the car.

It had started to rain lightly which was good. It meant that 'the body' would be covered almost immediately to preserve evidence and I wouldn't have to constantly look at dead me. I was a little nervous about seeing myself like that, and since my sense of denial was failing me, I wouldn't be able to compartmentalize it and hide it away. Time to grow up Stephanie, I told myself. Time to deal with the crappy stuff in life just like everybody else did ... head on.

Once word that a body was dumped in front of the RangeMan building went out over the police scanner, I was ready to go. With each minute that ticked away I was getting antsier. I wanted to get this over with and I wanted my life back. Finally Christie suggested that we leave. We checked and double checked our equipment, and to be on the safe side, we both wore vests over our clothing but under our windbreakers. Lester would be following behind us, but would pull up to the building from the opposite direction. We climbed in the cars and took off. Christie drove and we kept up a chatter of small talk the whole 20 minute drive to RangeMan.

The streetlights reflected on the black pavement and the slap of the windshield wipers just added to the 1940's film noir feeling of this whole night. The only thing missing was a voice over by Humphrey Bogart or some other old film star. We pulled up to a surreal scene at RangeMan. The CSI Unit was already working the scene. They had set up spotlights and the whole front of the building was illuminated. The burn marks and smoke stains from the explosion were painted up all seven floors to the roof. Right below the front steps, on the sidewalk, was a bright blue plastic tarp. I knew what it covered. There were police cars, CSI vehicles, Feds, an ambulance, the Coroner's Office van and a growing crowd of spectators, reporters, and photographers being held back by crime scene tape. It looked like a TV show.

Christie parked in the middle of the street and flipped down the driver's side visor that had an ATF card on it. "Hey," I jumped when she said it. "Remember to breathe. You'll do fine, just watch the crowd."

I drew a deep breath for courage and stepped out of the car. I pulled on the windbreaker and half zipped it. My ID was on a lanyard around my neck and I tucked the bottom edge of the jacket into my waistband to expose my weapon. I tried to look like the real deal. Walking to the front of the car, I made a show of standing and watching the activity. There was a guy in uniform walking around taking photographs of the building and the street. Several other men were setting up a large tent over the blue plastic tarp and attaching a privacy screen to the tent poles. Cops I didn't recognize were standing on the front steps, trying to keep dry.

Ranger was there, kneeling in the rain next to the tarp. He had probably been there the entire time because it was only sprinkling, but he was soaked. He was on one knee, his right elbow resting on his bent knee, his face in his hand. He was the image of grief. Lester parked his car down the street and jogged to Ranger, bending over him and pulling him to his feet. There was blood on the front of Ranger's pale blue dress shirt and his suit pants were wet from kneeling on the sidewalk. Ranger let Lester take him inside. I knew it was an act, still it took my breath away and I wanted to run to him and throw my arms around him.

I turned and glanced at the people on the other side of the street, behind the crime scene tape. I thought I recognized two of them from the file of possible hitmen that Bobby had shown me. One person I did recognize for sure was the weasel photographer who was my most persistent stalker. He had snuck into both the jail and the hospital trying to get photos of me to plaster on the front page of some gossip rag. Even in death the little son of a bitch wasn't gonna give me any peace. Maybe if I was lucky I'd find a reason to shoot him. Hell, I had to try to find an upside to this whole mess.

I turned back to the scene in time to see Ella kneel down on the sidewalk and cross herself. Luis was standing next to her, his hand on her shoulder. Finally, he knelt down on one knee beside her and bowed his head. The rain started to fall a little heavier, but still they stayed until Luis lovingly helped Ella to her feet and put his arms around her, rocking her gently and kissing her cheek before leading her away. I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. It took everything in me not to cry.

I was approached by another FBI Agent who asked if I had scanned the crowd. I told him who I had recognized and from where. He made note of the two hitmen and called his back up team who would run checks to see if there were any Federal warrants for them. If they were wanted, the Feds would be only too happy to get them off the streets of Trenton. I guess there was a silver lining to this cloud, after all.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a figure lurking in the alley on the far side of the building. I strolled in that direction, looking like I was headed for Christie and keeping my eyes off the alley. By the time I was standing next to her, I could clearly see Jono Le Blanc watching everything that was going on. He seemed to be paying more attention to the crowd than to the crime scene. I wondered who he was looking for and pointed him out to Christie, but didn't have time to give it any more thought because I saw Lula's red Firebird tear around the corner and come to a screeching halt, followed closely by a police car.

The passenger door was flung open and Connie got out before the car even came to a complete stop, followed a second later by Lula. Carl had leaped out of the police car and had grabbed Connie before she could make it to the sidewalk, turning her to him and holding on to her tightly as she sobbed. Tank burst out of the front door of the building and caught Lula by the arm as she reached tent, just as the blue tarp was lifted off 'the body.' She froze for a second at the sight, then screamed as her knees buckled and she crumpled to the ground. Tank lifted her and took her back to her car, seating her on the passenger side. She had her arms wrapped around him and her face buried in his neck. He had raised his head and met my eyes through the rain spattered windshield, giving me the tiniest nod to let me know that everything would be alright. Too bad I couldn't quite believe that.

Big Dog had gotten out of the police car and had walked over to the tent, he was allowed in but only stayed for a few seconds. He walked slowly away from the tent, toward Carl and Connie, head down and hands on hips. I saw him stop and run his hands over his face, wiping his eyes. I couldn't watch their grief and turned to scan the crowd again. Oh God! Working their way through the crowd to Tank and Lula were Mary Lou and Lenny. Mare was white faced and looked sick. Lenny spoke briefly to Tank and Mary Lou turned into Lenny's chest and he held her, his cheek on the top of her head. There was no place that I could look where there wasn't one of my friends.

I pulled out my recorder and made a show of talking into it. I checked my watch like I was noting the time. I figured it was about time I viewed 'the body' and made my way over to the tent. The young cop who was standing guard over the entrance was Officer Cooper who had arrested me at The Wharf the night this whole thing started. He didn't even meet my eyes but looked at my ID and stepped out of the way. The CSI techs were doing everything that CSI techs do at a crime scene involving a body. They stepped away as I came forward and I looked everywhere but down.

I forced my eyes to my body double and the shock of seeing myself laying there was staggering. Her eyes were open and the pupils fully dilated. I knew she had contacts, Dean had told me, but I swear to God she wasn't breathing. She had jeans and my cats on, and the sapphire turtle neck that I bought at Macy's on clearance at the end of the season. My little gold hoops were in her ears and the gold chain bracelet was on her wrist. There was a small round, neat black hole in the front of the sweater, right over my ... no ... her heart. There was a little bit of drying blood around it, dead bodies don't bleed. The techs went back to work bagging her hands and doing all the things they would normally do. I finally tore my eyes away from the bizarre scene and turned to see Lester standing behind me.

"Agent Schulmann, can I speak to you for a minute?" I needed to get out of there and he was helping me not blow my own cover.

We stepped out of the tent and moved close to the building standing with our heads together like we were having a conversation.

"Breathe, Steph. You're as white as she is."

All I could do was nod. 'Cool, calm, and collected' wasn't working real well. I pulled out my notepad and pretended to take notes. "I saw Le Blanc in the alley. He's looking for somebody in the crowd. Is Ranger okay?"

"Couldn't have asked for it to go any better. And you're doing great. Only a little while longer and we can get you inside. The spectators will think you're doing interviews."

"Okay." We shook hands like strangers and Lester went into the tent.

As I glanced at the crowd again, a black SUV pulled up. Hector and Hal all bandaged up, Ram, and Cal stepped out, all in full Rangeman uniform. They strode over to the tent and each stepped inside for a moment, then turned and left. Each took up a position on an outside corner of the tent and stood at attention, facing out. They were my honor guard and I was completely undone.

I swiftly turned before anyone could see the tears that were pooling in my eyes and walked away from the activity. I scanned the other side of the street and spotted Joyce Barnhardt in the crowd. She looked like she was having the time of her life. Bitch! I couldn't wait to let her know that I was still among the living. I'd have to come up with a creative 'reveal' just for her. I saw her spot the little ferret of a reporter and make her way over to him. Talk about a match made in hell!

I walked farther down, past the parking garage where the debris from the burned cars had already been cleared. A small alley, just wide enough for a garbage truck, ran around the entire building. I had seen Le Blanc at the entrance to the alley on the other side of the building. I took a small flashlight out of my pocket and pulled out my Sig. I flipped off the safety and made my way into the darkness. The alley was clear all the way down one side of the building. It was wider on the back side, where the dumpsters were, and they provided cover. I didn't see or hear anything back here, just sounds from out front. But as I made my way to the other side, I thought I heard something move.

I plastered myself to the wall and crept toward the corner of the building. I held my gun in both hands, took a steadying breath and did a quick peek around the corner and back. I wasn't completely sure of what I had seen, so I repeated the movement and plastered myself back against the wall. Now I was sure. Vincent Karvic was standing in the alley, not 15 feet away from me. I couldn't believe my luck. I straightened my arms, held my gun in both hands and stepped around the corner of the building.

"Don't move!" He turned slowly toward me, raising his hands in the air.

With deadly calm I took another step toward him, blocking his way past me. I raised my gun, and had just lined him up in my sights when I felt the cold steel of a gun barrel pressed against my temple.

TBC ...

Please read and review. Ranger and Steph had a fabulous time reading the reviews to each other while having breakfast in bed. You'd be amazed at the tings they can do with Boston Creams! Wink, Wink!


	27. Fish Eyes!

Disclaimer: Janet Evanovich owns most of the characters.

Warnings: You name it, you've been warned.

A/N: Thank you for all your wonderful reviews. I appreciate each and every one. May you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday filled with every good thing. The next chapter will be posted Tuesday, December 5 ... company, cooking, cleaning, all that good stuff gets in the way of the writing! Happy Turkey Day! Thank you Christie and Karen!

As The Worm Turns!

Chapter 27: Fish Eyes!

Oh shit! All those times that Ranger told me that I needed to be more aware of my surroundings ... did I listen to him? No. Was he right? Oh yeah. But right now that wasn't the point. Right now I was worried that I'd never have the opportunity to be aware of anything ever again.

The gun barrel against my temple pressed a little harder into my skin and a hand reached out to take the Sig away from me. Karvic pulled his weapon and had it leveled at me, pointed right at my heart. Very slowly I brought my hands back, palms out, until they were up beside my head. My heart hammered in my chest and I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my body. I fought to stay calm while every fiber of my being was telling me to scream at the top of my lungs and run like hell.

The gun was pulled back from my head and the man holding it stepped around to stand in front of me. It was Jono Le Blanc. My stomach hit the ground. He exchanged a quick glance with Karvic and I held my breath. If either one recognized me, I was dead. Really dead this time.

Precious seconds ticked away in deadly silence as Karvic and Le Blanc held their mute conversation. I prayed that my life wasn't slipping away with them. Finally Karvic's lips curled up over his teeth. I think it was supposed to be a smile but it was frightening and cruel. My racing heart stuttered and my knees went weak. Oh God, he knew!

All I could hear was my blood pounding in my ears as I waited for him to pull the trigger. "Christ Almighty, Special Agent, you scared the shit out of us."

What? What did he say? Holy shit, they don't know it's me! Thank you, God! Thank you, thank you! I almost sobbed out loud.

Le Blanc gave a rough laugh, returning my Sig to me, butt first and holstering his own weapon. "I'll say!" Le Blanc joined in. "You really took us by surprise. Scared the crap out of us. We thought you were the killer. You know, how they coming back to the scene of the crime to watch the action and gloat. The perfect way to get themselves caught." He was looking directly at Karvic when he said that.

I wondered if Le Blanc knew how dangerous Karvic was? Le Blanc was chiding Karvic for showing up here. It really was a stupid thing to do. Common sense should have told Karvic that everybody would be on the look out for him. But all things considered, Karvic didn't have much common sense. He wasn't stupid, but he acted on impulse and that made him dangerous. Karvic gave Le Blanc a murderous look. Maybe they'd kill each other off and all our problems would be solved?

I lowered my hands and took back my Sig, forcing myself to holster it when I wanted nothing more than to blow them both away. If I played this right, I might actually make it out alive. I took a deep breath and tried to keep my voice steady.

Okay Stephanie, I told myself, always act like you're in charge, like you're running the show. "Who the hell are you two, and what are you doing back here anyway?" I snapped at them. "This entire location is a secured crime scene, you could be compromising evidence."

Le Blanc made a weak attempt at looking guilty, trying for a sheepish expression. "Look, we work for RangeMan. We're new here and just came out for a smoke. Too much action out front and this seemed like as good a place as any."

"You better get back inside or wherever you're supposed to be. Has CSI been over this area yet? They're gonna find your cigarette butts and think they're evidence. What brand are you smoking?" I tried to sound like I knew what I was talking about and I was beginning to hope that I could actually pull this off.

"Gee Agent, we never had a chance to light up. We just got out here."

I nodded. "Then you better get back to your posts before Manoso finds out. I hear that he's a real hard ass to work for on a good day, so if you want to keep your jobs you better hustle. He's not a real happy camper tonight."

Karvic snorted. "Yeah, the son of a bitch is gonna miss his piece alright. The mother fucker's probably got a new one bent over his desk banging her up the ass right now!" His voice was laced with venom and hatred.

Le Blanc reached out a hand and smacked Karvic in the shoulder, jerking his head in my direction. "Hey! There's a lady here."

Yeah, the lady you just had at gunpoint. I was surprised that Le Blanc didn't have his French accent now. He sounded like an American with no regional distinction to his voice. Ranger said he was like a chameleon, being able to blend into any crowd. I guess that's why he was able to stay alive so long, considering his chosen field. Assassins don't usually have much of a shelf life.

Le Blanc looked at me. "Sorry about the gun thing, but I couldn't tell who you were."

Right. You couldn't see that great big, glow in the dark 'FBI' splashed across the back of the jacket I was wearing. I jerked my head and my thumb in the direction of the back alley. "Go on, you two, get outta here." I stepped back to let them pass me and watched as they turned the corner and walked along the back of the building. I kept my hand on my gun as I watched them walk back the way I had come.

When they were far enough away, I let out the breath I had been holding and sagged back against the building. I couldn't believe that they didn't recognize me. Karvic had kept his face averted and I guess he was relieved that the Special Agent didn't make him either.

My legs were shaky as I jogged to this end of the alley and came back out under the lights. I scanned the group on the sidewalk, looking for Christie. Morelli was just stepping out of the tent and stopped with his back to the crowd, scrubbing his hands over his face. When he raised his head I could see how pale he was.

I reached his side and put a hand on his arm. "Detective Morelli, I need to speak with you."

Joe's eyes snapped up to my face. "Special Agent," his voice was strained. "What can I do for you." His face softened slightly.

I lowered my voice and said urgently, "I just ran into Karvic and Le Blanc in the back alley behind the building. I haven't seen them come out yet. They must still be there."

"Where's Christie? Did she stay back there?" He looked toward the end of the alley and caught sight of her by the parking garage. He didn't look at me, he didn't have to. "You were alone." It was a statement, not a question, and I felt his body stiffen in irritation. He shot me a look that would have scared me shitless if I hadn't known him better.

We walked quickly toward Carl and Big Dog, and waved Christie over to join us. Christie looked from Joe to me and back to Joe, who turned to me and growled, "Stay here and watch to see that they don't come out of the alley and mingle with the crowd," and he walked away with Christie. He stopped suddenly and spun on his heel, coming back to me. He bent down and brought his face close to mine. "I mean it, Stephanie." He practically hissed in my ear. "If you aren't in this exact spot when I come back, I swear to God I'll charge you as a material witness and have you put into protective custody. You'll find yourself parked in some County Jail out in the boonies until this whole case is over. Is that clear?"

"Excuse me? Who the hel ... " He held one finger up in my face and I just shut my mouth. There was no use arguing with Morelli when he goes into big, bad cop mode. He just pissed me off and I gave him my best 'Burg death glare.

Carl and Joe started down the alley, guns drawn. Big Dog and Christie walked quickly across the front of the building, drawing their weapons as they approached the alley entrance on the other side. I had seen Christie give a 'come along' gesture to Lester and Bobby, who were standing outside the front door. Bobby went one way, Lester joined Joe and Carl.

I thought about following after them, but knew right where that would get me. I'm sure that Joe would rat me out to Ranger and I'd have him to deal with, too. So I turned and scanned the crowd instead. I saw Stella Martucci standing behind the tape, calmly watching the activity. Mooner and Dougie were standing right up front, too. Mooner was crying and Dougie was patting him on the shoulder. Hopefully, they were so stoned that they won't remember any of this tomorrow. A couple of girls from the 'Burg that I went to high school with were there. I almost didn't recognize Sally Sweet. He was standing off to the side, all by himself and he was almost dressed like a guy. He had a men's suit and tie on, with a leather bustier and spike heels. Sally's idea of conservative. He had his arms wrapped tightly around himself and I could see the tears running down his cheeks. I felt the ache in my chest grow as I watched the reactions of the people who cared about me. I took a ragged breath and looked at the alley entrances.

I could imagine that the phone at my parents' house was ringing off the wall. Thank God they were safe and had been warned about what was going on. I couldn't have done this if they had been in town and had to play the part of the grieving parents. On top of everything else I've done to them, I couldn't have asked them to go through this. Grandma would have loved the role playing, though. It would have given her star status with the 'girls' down at the Clip 'N Curl. But it would have killed Mom and Dad.

Two men stepped out of the tent, Chief Michael Rimbolli and Eddie Gazarra stood side by side between me and the privacy screen. Uncle Mike had a hand on Eddie's shoulder and Eddie just looked stricken. They exchanged a few more words and Eddie went to talk to Tank, who was standing guard at the front door and answering questions from the press.

Uncle Mike went over to his car, his driver holding the back door open for him. He hesitated and walked over to Stella, I suppose to see if she needed a ride. He bent and kissed her cheek, patting her shoulder. Then he turned and got into his car and drove away.

Bobby came over and told me that Cal and Ram had taken Connie and Lula, and Mare and Lenny home since the press wouldn't leave them alone. Waves of guilt washed over me, and I wondered if I could ever make this up to them, whether they'd ever forgive me for causing them to have to go through this.

My honor guard was still in place, standing at attention. My heart broke just looking at them. I realized that these guys weren't in on the scheme and really thought I was dead. Just a few hours ago I thought that I needed to protect myself from these men and here they stood, out in the rain, honoring me as one of their own. I was so fucking stupid. How could I have ever doubted them?

I was beginning to get worried. There was no sign of Joe and Christie and the guys. I didn't hear any gunshots or voices, so I figured everything was okay, but I was still anxious. I was keeping an eye on both ends of the alley and the crowd, too. There was no sign of Le Blanc or Karvic and I prayed that they had been caught. I couldn't see how they could have gotten away without being seen.

The rain picked up again but none of the crowd left. I supposed they were gonna stay around until the body was removed, getting their money's worth. When I turned back to look at the alley entrance, Bobby and Christie, Lester and Carl were coming out. Joe and Big Dog came out the other side. They all had their weapons holstered, so I guess they didn't find Karvic and Le Blanc. Christie and Joe came directly over to me.

Joe looked over my head as he scanned the crowd. "Are you sure you saw them, it's awfully dark back there? Could it have been somebody else and in the excitement you mistook them fo..."

"Oh, not only did I see them, Joe, we had a lovely little chat while we had tea! Of course I'm sure I saw them!" I hissed. "I had Karvic at gunpoint."

"And you didn't bring him in because why?" Joe was said sarcastically.

"Because Le Blanc had ME at gunpoint and I figured it'd be a little difficult to bring in Karvic with a bullet in my head!" Morelli had the expected reaction.

Joe just closed his eyes and shook his head in disgust. I knew that look and what was coming next. Anger flashed across his face and he opened his mouth to blast me.

"Okay, you two. It doesn't look good for the Feds and the locals to be bickering in public." This from Christie, the voice of reason. She read the situation and stepped in to keep it from spiraling into the next battle of the Plum-Morelli Wars. Just because we weren't together, didn't mean we couldn't fight. Our arguments had provided entertainment for a lot of people. Neither Joe nor I had ever been able to hold our tongues, no matter where we were or with who.

I took a breath and stepped back a bit. "I watched both ends of the alley and there's no way they got out. Did you see anything at all?"

"No, but they could have climbed onto one of the dumpsters and gone over the roof of one of those one story buildings across the alley. They could have climbed down on the next street and nobody would be any the wiser." Christie was on her cell to other agents, directing them to search the next street and the roofs of the one story buildings for any evidence that Karvic and Le Blanc had made their get away from there.

Joe ran his hands through his wet hair in irritation. "Shit! We were so close." Close was no consolation, though. We were no better off than we were before. Karvic was no closer to being caught and I was no closer to having my life back. We could all just taste the frustration.

We were standing in a little huddle against the rain when I heard a cackle followed by a strident voice that could only belong to one person. We all turned to look in her direction, just about the whole crowd did, too. Joyce Barnhardt had her head thrown back in a loud, phoney laugh designed to attract attention to herself. She was holding the arm of the ferret photographer on one side and appeared to be flirting outrageously with the guy on her left... Dickie Orr. What the hell was he doing here? Granted, we had a hate-hate relationship, but I couldn't imagine that he would care if I was dead or alive, as long as I didn't bother him. He wanted something, that's for sure.

The entire crowd was being quiet and almost respectful, low voices murmuring. There were occasional flashes from the photographers cameras. Newspaper reporters jotted down notes or spoke softly into their little recorders. From time to time one would sneak across the street to try to question a CSI or one of the cops or Merry Men, only to be escorted back behind the barricades by a firm hand. Down on the corner, held back by police tape and barricades were the TV camera crews. From here I could see the terminally perky female reporters with their perfect hair and makeup, and the male reporters looking like they stepped out of GQ, microphones in hand, gesturing toward the scene here on the street.

Tomorrow morning every TV and radio station, every newspaper and local tabloid would be filled with news about the murder of the Bombshell Bounty Hunter. I'm sure that there would be at least one in depth interview with Mrs. Garibaldi my kindergarten teacher, Marty, the guy at the Shell Station who pumps my gas, and Lois, the dental hygienist who cleans my teeth twice a year. As close as people in the 'Burg are, they'll spill their guts to anybody who asks. Of course, this is exactly what we wanted. The news coverage would spread the word that I was dead so the hitmen would hit the road. Of course, once Karvic was in jail, the hit would be canceled altogether and I could breathe a sigh of relief.

Something was happening because I saw all the TV reporters jumped out of their vans and stand out in the street in the rain. Nobody was getting a scoop, so each one would have to come up with their own unique twist on the story. I could hardly wait to hear them all in the morning. None of them wanted to take the chance of missing something. The cops were allowing the reporters and their cameramen through the barricades, and they were all making their way slowly down the street to RangeMan.

I watched as Joyce Barnhardt detached herself from the weasel and The Dick, scoping out the approaching group of reporters. She sniffed out the cutest guy reporter with the accuracy of a bitch in heat and did everything short of getting down on all fours and wagging her tail in front of him to get his attention. Poor guy. Joyce would probably paint herself as the best friend who personally helped me get out of my unhappy marriage, was single handedly responsible for my 'success' as a bounty hunter, and introduced me to the men in my life. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as I watched Joyce wipe an imaginary tear away. Ugh!

I saw the cops at the end of the street move the barricades out of the way. A large black van pulled into Haywood and parked in front of the building. The cops shoved the heavy barricades back into place. Mercer County Coroner's Office was emblazoned on the side of the vehicle and the attention of the whole crowd was riveted on the men who stepped out of the van.

One of the men went to the back of the vehicle and opened the doors, pulling out a collapsible gurney that unfolded with a metallic clang. I shiver ran through my body and Joe put his hand lightly on my arm and gave it a squeeze. The other guy reached into the back of the van and pulled out a large black plastic body bag and tossed it on top of the gurney. I wanted to turn away but it was hypnotizing. Like the train wreck you know you shouldn't watch, but you just can't tear your eyes away. They wheeled the gurney over to the tent and stopped at the entrance.

The front door of the building opened and Ranger came out, looking like he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. TV cameramen leaped into action and there were cries of, "Mr. Manoso! Mr. Manoso!" from reporters trying to get his attention. Tank, Bobby, and Lester surrounded him, blocking him from the cameras' prying eyes. They walked with their heads down into the tent. It was like daylight from the non-stop camera flashes that started the moment Ranger stepped out of the building; he was a local celebrity on Trenton's sad version of the red carpet. They were in the tent for a few minutes and when they left to return to the building, a female CSI approached Ranger and obviously asked him for his blood stained shirt. As he unbuttoned it, he stepped back into the shadows of the tent while the flashes started again. When he reappeared, he was wearing Tank's jacket and the dazed CSI girl bumped into a tent pole as she tried to make her way back to the van clutching his shirt to her chest. I swear she bent her head and smelled it but I couldn't even work up a smile at her reaction.

Before he could make it into the building, one of those perennially perky reporters stepped in front of him and shoved a microphone into his face. She wore a look of sincere concern that I'm sure she practiced in the bathroom mirror. Ranger stopped and stared down at her, and I could see the girl's face turn pale and just knew that her voice dried up in her throat. She sort of gulped and stumbled back. Tank had put his hand over the camera lens, so I guess Ranger wouldn't be making the morning news.

By now, the Coroner's Office men had loaded up the body bag and were wheeling the gurney out of the tent. My knees almost gave out from under me as I watched the Honor Guard stepped in front and behind the gurney and accompanied it to the van. They walked directly in front of me and I saw the tears running down Hector's face, saw how pale Hal was, Cal's rigid jaw, Ram's stiff spine. Ever so gently, they lifted it into van, stepped back, and in unison, saluted in slow motion. Thankfully, the skies open up and the rain poured down, soaking me and hiding the tears I couldn't hold back any longer. They held the salute until the van doors were closed, then they turned in unison and went back into the building. I was completely undone.

Joe was standing off to the side, watching the action, and I realized that he hadn't let me out of his sight since he came out of the alley. He had evaded and avoided the reporters but the photographers, including the weasel, had a field day taking shots of him from across the street. Usually the cops who work a crime scene were invisible to the media unless they were some kind of big wig, and for the most part were left to do their jobs in peace. But Joe was the 'Ex-boyfriend', and that made him a person of interest to the press. I wondered if having his picture splashed all over the local press would effect his ability to do undercover work. He never shared much of that part of his job with me; he'd just disappear for weeks at a time with some Task Force or other. Joe was sacrificing his anonymity for me.

I took off my glasses and made a big show of rubbing my eyes, as if they were bothering me. I cleaned my glasses and put them back on, watching while the Coroner's van pulled away from the curb and took off for the morgue. I didn't even know the name of the woman who was playing "Dead Stephanie" or what would happen to the 'body' once they left here. I knew that all the CSI's as well as the guys from the Coroner's Office had been replaced by Federal agents. While they looked like they were taking crime scene photos, they were actually taking pictures of the crowd hoping that some of Karvic's chronies would show up.

Lester sidled up to me and whispered in my ear. "Want me to tell you about my fantasy about a middle aged woman with a little meat on her bones." I know I glared at him. "Seriously, how are you? It's getting cold out here and you look half frozen."

"I'm okay, Les. How are the guys doing? I can't believe they stayed out here in the rain all this time." My voice was shaky and I couldn't meet Lester's eyes for fear I'd start to cry. "How do you thank somebody for something like that?" I looked down the street, watching as some of the crowd disbursed.

"You're one of their own, Steph. They love you," he whispered to me. "We all do."

I could only bite my bottom lip, hoping if I bit it hard enough I wouldn't cry. I nodded at him, but still couldn't look at him.

"Listen, why don't you come inside now? You're soaked and you're shivering. I know you have to be exhausted." Lester was right, I was exhausted. I had thought I would be able to remove myself, emotionally, from the situation tonight, that it would be like watching a TV show. Who the hell did I think I was kidding? I felt like I was stripped naked and every nerve was exposed. I guess my denial abilities had failed me yet again.

"Sounds good to me. Let me get my purse out of Christie's car."

"Okay, I'll meet you at the door." Lester was already halfway there.

As I open the car door to pull out my bag, I sensed someone right behind me, and turned quickly with my hand on my gun. The female reporter who approached Ranger earlier was standing right behind me, her cameraman zooming in on my face. She leaned forward to grab my fake ID, gave it a quick read and turned to the camera while her assistant fluffed her hair and dabbed at her nose with a powder puff.

"Listen," she said to me. "I tried to get an interview with that prick Manoso. I just can't STAND people who have huge egos like that. First he won't let any of the TV crews come near his precious building, and then he wouldn't even give me a sound bite for my show, 'Mornings With Tiffi'. I'm Tiffany Trent, but I'm sure you already knew that. So just cooperate here and I'll make sure you get my autograph. 'No comment.' Just who the hell does he think he is?"

"Come on Barry, look sharp. Ugh, why am I surrounded by incompetents?" She arranged herself, holding her microphone up and assumed a look of calm concern, just what the bearer of sad tidings should look like. The death grip that she had on my arm wouldn't be seen on camera, but she wasn't letting me get away. She gave the cameraman a nod and started.

"We are standing here in the rain in these early morning hours, trying to gain insight into the tragic death of one of Trenton's most beloved and recognizable characters. Earlier tonight, the body of a woman identified as Stephanie Plum, the Bombshell Bounty Hunter, was dumped in front of RangeMan LLC, the security company owned by mystery man, Ricardo Carlos Manoso. Some months ago, Manoso himself was the prime suspect in the kidnaping of his own daughter, Julie. It was later proven that a deranged man, Edward Scrog was trying to assume Manoso's life by kidnaping his daughter and Miss Plum. With me is FBI Special Agent Susan Skulman." The bitch's fingernails were biting through my jacket and into my skin and she couldn't even get my name straight.

"Agent Skulnick, what can you tell us about this heinous crime." She stuck the microphone into my face.

"No comment."

"Hold it!" She made a 'cut' gesture across her throat with the microphone and turned on me with her eyes narrowed and her fangs bared. Her fans should see her now.

"What the fuck is that all about? I'm standing out here freezing my ass off and all you give me is 'No Comment'?" She was screaming at me. "I'm supposed to be on a date with the assistant to the Deputy Mayor and instead I'm out here trying to make the death of some two bit bimbo sound interesting. Doesn't anybody realize how hard I'm working here?" Her cameraman's eyes were rolled back into his head and he was making gagging motions behind her back. Her soaking wet assistant looked like she wanted to commit murder with the umbrella she was holding over Tiffi's head.

"Look lady, I'm giving you an opportunity to appear on TV with me. Do you understand how lucky you are? Now cut the crap and get with the program!"

She primped again, then went through her whole routine, this time calling me Agent Scully, and finally stuck the microphone in my face again.

"No comment." I thought the top of her little pointy head was going to pop off. I turned away and walked into the building. I had enjoyed that, maybe she could hook up with Joyce.

Lester held the door open for me and looked at me with raised eyebrows. I just shook my head and made a 'don't worry about it' face. We got onto the elevator and went to the big conference room on six. Everybody was seated around the table with their coffee. I had no sooner come into the room when Ella hustled over to me and helped me peel out of the soaking wet windbreaker and jacket. I took off the Kevlar vest and shoulder holster and let Ella wrap a blanket around me before I sat down. A steaming hot mug of coffee was pressed into my hands and I just held on to it for a minute, warming up my frozen fingers.

8X10 glossy photographs were spread all over the table. The fake CSI's had taken pictures of the crowd in hopes that some of Karvic's pals had shown up. I looked through the pictures, but the only face I recognized was Nicolas Ramos. I wondered if he was there so that he could report back to his Uncle Alexander. It felt like the trip to Deal was months ago instead of just a week or so ago. My life was running at warp speed and it was just slipping through my fingers.

Ranger walked into the room followed by Bobby, and silence fell over the group. Ranger had changed into black dress pants and a charcoal grey sweater, cashmere, I think. His hair was pulled back and the strain he was under was written all over his face, he looked as exhausted as I felt. Glancing down at the file he was holding, he motioned to Bobby to start while he folded himself into a chair.

Bobby stood at the head of the table and passed a small stack of papers around. "Well Slugger, your spidey-sense did it again. You hit the nail right on the head. That list of numbers you came up with were reversed Social Security numbers. I don't know where you got them, but when you look at who they belong to, it tells the whole story."

I looked down at the sheet of paper in front of me. The numbers were on the left hand side, and running down the middle of the page were the names of the people who had been assigned those numbers. Joseph deMarco, Salvatore deMarco, Alberto deMarco, Vincente deMarco, Joey Dee's whole family. Vincent Karvic, Edward Karvic, Robert Karvic, Patricia Karvic. Holy God, they had started their own Family Business. There were lots of others on the list, but those were the names that jumped out.

"We need to run searches on these names looking for real estate holdings and military service." I said. "Christie and I ran one search and found that one of the deMarco brothers owned some warehouses in Baltimore. That's where the Military Distribution Center is. If we can link these names with either waterfront warehouse space or that Distribution Center, or transportation of some kind, maybe we can round up the whole ring?" I looked around the table. All eyes were on me except Ranger's. He hadn't looked at me since he walked into the room and that made me really, really nervous. Bobby and Christie both pulled out their cell phones, speaking softly into them.

"The ATF has already started the searches, and of course, with our government access our searches will run faster and be much more in depth. My office tells me that they're almost done with them and that they'll fax them over here to me when they're completed." She looked at me and smiled. "Are you sure you don't want a new job?" Then she glanced at Ranger who sat slouched in his chair, still wasn't taking part in this meeting. She flicked here eyes back up to me, but I could only shake my head and shrug.

The conference room door opened and Junior walked in with a couple of files that he handed to Christie. The photographs were gathered up and she opened the files, spreading the sheets almost the length of table. "You know, this plan was so simple nobody ever caught on to it. There's an old saying about when you hear galloping hooves look for horses not zebras? Well, we have a whole herd of horses right here." She shook her head as she read over the searches. "Warehouses in every city involved belonged to either a deMarco or a Karvic. Patricia Karvic owns a trucking company that does small scale interstate shipping. Salvatore deMarco owns a small fleet of tug boats and barges. And the cherry on top of this sundae is United States Army Lt. Col. Edward Karvic, who our government has entrusted with the largest Military Distribution Center in the country."

We all sat around the table smiling at each other, the mood immediately lightened. The guys all shook hands and kissed Christie and me and a lighthearted, almost party atmosphere took over. Christie excused herself and left to make some calls to get the ball rolling on the Federal search and arrest warrants while the rest of us were congratulating ourselves. When I turned to look for Ranger, I realized that he had left the room and before I could go look for him, Ella came back in with my clothes that she had put in the dryer.

Christie came back in to report that the ATF and the FBI were scrambling to put together a plan that would allow Federal Agents armed with search and arrest warrants to descend on all the suspects and locations at the same time. The earliest that this plan could be put into place was the day after tomorrow. RangeMan would cover the New Jersey and Pennsylvania locations, serving as extra back up for the Feds. Ranger would make the assignments tomorrow afternoon. Until then there really wasn't anything for ut to do except get some rest, and for me to lay low.

Little by little the group broke up. Lester told me that it had been decided that I would stay at his house at least until all the warrants had been served. This way Lester could double as my babysitter and the extra security detail could go with the Feds instead of me. He'd take me back to his place whenever I was ready. I really wanted to see Ranger before I left. I knew the next few days were gonna be busy and there were a couple of things I needed to say to him.

"Bombshell, Ranger isn't real happy right now. Maybe you oughtta just let me take you home and leave him alone until this blows over?" Lester had his hand on my arm, trying to lead me out of the conference room.

I couldn't figure out why Lester didn't want me to see Ranger. "What are you talking about, Les? What's the matter? You know I'm not going anywhere until I see him."

I heard Joe heave a huge sigh and I turned to face him as he looked at Lester. "It's okay, I'll handle this. Thanks anyway."

Joe pushed me into a chair and I waited until Lester left the room. "Joe?"

Joe was pacing back and forth beside the conference table, head down, hands on hips. He turned to look at me, "Just hear me out, Cupcake. I gotta tell ya, our years together have been bittersweet. It was pretty bad when I finally realized that you and I would never be able to make it work and that you didn't want to be the girl of my dreams. Love hurts, but I don't think it's supposed to hurt physically. You're a wonderful woman Steph, and any man would be lucky to have you. But you should come with a warning label, 'This Woman Is Hazardous To Your Health'."

"You gave me an ulcer to the point that I chug Maalox straight out of the bottle. I haven't had a full nights' sleep since we met and I live my life in different stages of sleep deprivation because of you. I was always living in fear of the next disaster you were gonna get involved in, the next car you blew up, the next stalker. Every time my phone rang, every time my scanner went off, every time there was a breaking news report on TV, my stomach would do somersaults and my heart would stop. Cupcake, I need a T-shirt that says 'I Survived Stephanie Plum'!"

"You survived Stephanie Plum? You son of a bitch!" I was on my feet ready to do battle but he pushed me back into the chair. "Who the hell do you think you are? Saint Joseph? You're a cop for crying out loud! Don't you think I worried about you? You were always gone on all those special assignments. Did I ever ask you to change your job ... and don't give me any crap about it being different! I was a bounty hunter when we hooked up. You knew exactly what you were getting."

He squatted down in front of me, scrubbed his hands over his face and through his hair, then grabbed my shoulders and gave me a shake. "That's not the point, Stephanie! You're on Manoso's watch now. He's gotta know that you don't listen to him any better than you listened to me." He took a deep breath. "I told him that you went off on your own and ran into Karvic and Le Blanc. That they held you at gunpoint. That's why he's angry." I was stunned. I couldn't believe that Joe had ratted me out to Ranger. I was so surprised I didn't know what to say ... for about 30 seconds and then I went into full blown rhino mode.

"You bastard," I hissed at him. "Is this your idea of getting even with me? Is that what this is all about?"

Before he could answer me the door opened and Ranger walked in.

"Morelli, I'd like to speak to Stephanie alone, if you don't mind."

Joe headed for the door, ignoring my rant. He turned back to Ranger. "Manoso, if you're smart you'll start stockpiling Maalox right now. In fact, if I were you, I'd buy stock in the company. Good luck with her, you're gonna need it." He bent to kiss me on the cheek but I shoved him away as hard as I could.

I sat with my arms folded and my legs crossed, shaking my foot in anger. I was pissed at Joe and I just couldn't wait to hear what Ranger had to say. He dropped the folder in front of me and when I didn't move to open it, he dumped the contents on the table and slammed his hand down on top of the pictures that laid there. I jumped at both the sound and his obvious anger.

"What do you have to say about this, Stephanie." He growled the words at me, his voice low and threatening. I could understand how men pissed themselves when they were faced with an angry Ranger.

"I mean it. I want to know how you can explain this to yourself. In what world does this make sense?" He was leaning over me, one hand on the back of my chair and one on the table, the anger radiated off of his body.

"RangeMan, the Feds, your friends, your family ... we have all allowed ourselves to be put through hell to keep you safe. Not just financially, but the emotional cost to all of us who care about you, what we all went through tonight to keep you alive ... I've always told you that there was no price, and there isn't. But there is a value." He shoved away from the chair in disgust. "And then you pull this crap!" He turned away from me and walked over to look out the window.

I glanced down and the pictures. They were taken from the security camera on the roof looking down at the alley. They showed Le Blanc holding the gun to my head, and Karvic pointing his at my heart. Ranger was right, of course. I did take thoughtless chances especially in light of the elaborate scheme that had been put together just to keep me safe. The pain that everyone was going through. The expense, financial and emotional.

"I have no excuse, Rang ..."

"Exactly, you have no excuse. You get an idea in your head, or maybe you don't have any idea at all. Maybe that's your problem?"

"Ranger, that's not fair. I ..."

"That's not fair." He snorted. "Jesus Christ, Stephanie, you sound like a child."

What the hell? He and Morelli had the same God damned dialogue. "Now wait a minute! At least let me ..."

"When the hell are you gonna grow up, Stephanie, and realize the world doesn't revolve around you?"

I turned on him. I'd had enough! "Jesus Christ Morelli, give it a rest!" I started for the door when what I said filtered into my brain and I froze. I felt like I was moving in slow motion as I raised my hand to my mouth and turned to look at Ranger, wide eyed. I couldn't breathe. The shock on his face mirrored the shock on my own.

I dragged a painful breath into my lungs. "Oh God!" and I bolted for the door.

TBC ...

Thank you for all your wonderful reviews. Ranger and Steph plan on reading them during Thanksgiving dinner. It's one of the things that we're all thankful for. I'm still a review slut, so please keep them coming. Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the next chapter will be posted on Tuesday, December 5. Sorry, but I can't write with a house full of company! Happy Thanksgiving!


	28. Barracuda!

Disclaimer: Most of 'em belong to Janet Evanovich except the ones who belong to me.

Warnings: You name it, you've been warned!

A/N: Thank you Christie for all your help, don't know what I'd do without you. Thanks to Red and Akasha for your talents, lunacy, and friendship. Please read and review, Worm! is almost done!

As The Worm Turns!

Chapter 28: Barracuda!

I bolted out of the room and made it half way down the hall before I remembered another promise I made to Ranger. I promised him that I wouldn't run away from the problems that we'd have, that I'd stay and we'd try to work them out. But like it or not, I was an expert on running. It had been the pattern of my whole life. I could deny and avoid like a pro. I was the poster child, the 'go to' girl for advice on escaping reality. And now I was supposed to go cold turkey.

I stopped and leaned my back against the wall, letting myself slide down until I was sitting on the floor. I drew my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms tightly around them. Whether I admit it or not, I knew myself pretty well, I thought. I had this amazing ability to compartmentalize my life, everything stored neatly away. Behind Door #1 I had my everyday life: my job, my friends, my family. Tucked away behind Door #2 were my hopes and dreams: Wonder Woman, Batman, happily ever after. Door #3 was the problem. Behind door #3 hid all the things I denied and avoided: my fears, disappointments, failures, childhood monsters, nightmares, and humiliations. The things I shoved back there had teeth and claws; they could make me bleed, maybe not physically, but emotionally. They were the painful elements from my entire life. I knew if I opened that door all those demons would escape, and they would eat me alive. Growing up meant looking behind that door and I couldn't do that all by myself. I needed Ranger to face the demons with me.

Slowly, I climbed up off the floor. I was so tired that I felt numb and the walk back down that hall felt like it was miles instead of feet. I hesitated, with my hand on the knob and leaned my forehead against the cool wood. I took a deep breath and blew it out. Now or never, Stephanie, and if you want this man in your life, never isn't an option. I pushed the door open and stepped into the room.

Ranger was slumped in one of the chairs under the windows, his long legs sprawled out in front of him. He had his elbow on the arm of the chair and his cheek rested against his fist. Raising just his eyes, he looked at me for a long minute and I found it was hard to return his gaze. "You came back." It was a statement, no surprise in his voice, just fact.

I shrugged. "I never left." I walked slowly over to the table and just stood looking down at it.

He stood up from his chair. "How far did you get."

I stood there and ran little circles with my index on the top of the table, anything not to look at him. I gave a nervous laugh. "About 15 feet."

All he said was, "Babe."

I cleared my throat, "Could we turn out these lights? I have a lot to say and I want you to hear it from Stephanie and not from Sandy Schulmann."

He didn't say anything, just walked around the table and hit the light switch on the wall by the door. The dark room gradually grew a little brighter from the light coming in the rain spattered windows. I pulled out the nearest chair and had him sit in it. Standing behind him, I put my hands on his shoulders and he covered them with his own.

"I need to say this, so let me get it all out before you say anything, okay? He squeezed my hand and I had to smile, I asked him not to say anything, and he didn't. Only Ranger. "I want you to know that I realize everything you said to me was true. You were right about it all." I heaved a big sigh. "I don't think about other people, I just charge right in. I'm hardheaded and stubborn and impulsive, and I have the uncanny ability to justify anything I do, at least to myself."

I took another deep breath and blew it out shakily. This soul-searching crap was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. "I won't even try to argue with what you said and I won't try to defend myself either because there really is no excuse. I hate that you think I'm selfish and thoughtless and I especially hated hearing you say it." I could feel the hot tears pooling in my eyes. I licked my lips, "I can't promise you I won't ever do anything impulsive again, and we both know I will. But I will promise to try to stop and think before I act. If you still want me to go into hiding in the Cayman's or Cambodia or Constantinople, I'll go, tonight if you want."

He was quiet for so long that I didn't think he was going to say anything at all. I started to take my hands off his shoulders when he took one and held it in place. "Will you go to Lester's and stay there until this whole thing is over?"

Somewhere, sometime, someplace, some genius said that confession was good for the soul. Well, I confessed, so I guess this was my penance. I hesitated for only a second. "Yes." That was it.

Ranger didn't turn around, he didn't say anything else, just nodded his head slightly. He squeezed my hand and placed a gentle kiss on the inside of my wrist, then got up and walked to the door, opened it and stood in the doorway. Backlit by the lights from the hall, I couldn't see his face, only his silhouette. Still, I knew he was wearing his blank face.

"Lester is downstairs, waiting for you. We'll talk when this is all over." And he was gone, the door closing, leaving me standing in the dark.

I don't know how long I stood there staring at that closed door, willing him to come back into the room to tell me he loved me and everything would be alright. But he didn't. I finally gave up and with a heavy heart turned to pick up my bag. Ranger had left the file he had been looking at on the conference table. I picked it up and took it with me.

I walked down the deserted hall to the elevator and pressed the call button. I glanced down at the file and flipped it open. It had security camera photos in it. They were of me with Karvic and Le Blanc. Le Blanc, with his gun pressed into my temple, Karvic's gun pointed at my heart, me standing with my hands raised. No wonder Ranger was so angry. I took the file and shoved it into my bag.

Ranger had been harsh, but Ranger had been right. I should have gotten somebody to go with me; there were plenty of people around. We might have even been able to bring in Karvic. I seemed to live my life with woulda, shoulda, and coulda. It was time for Stephanie Plum to grow up. I couldn't change the past, but I could try to change the future, not for anybody else, but for me. My life would be a lot easier if I didn't always have regrets about something

Ranger never did anything on impulse. In his world, impulse is what got you killed. He didn't say anything he didn't mean and he didn't do anything that wasn't well thought out. He had the ability to make quick decisions, but they were based on experience and being able to read the situation, not impulse. I never had that carefully thought out plan that took all the 'ifs' into consideration. Ranger always acted, I always reacted, going with my gut or my heart, and almost never with my head. Ranger always acted in the best interests and safety of the group while I never had to considered anybody but myself. I had to learn to think more like Ranger.

By the time the elevator finally got there and I got down to the first floor, I had resolved to start using my head. I wasn't gonna shut off my heart or my gut, but I was gonna start to think before I acted. I knew I wanted to prove myself to Ranger, but if I was absolutely honest, I wanted to prove myself to me, too. Suddenly I felt a lot better. Now I had a goal to focus on.

It was still raining as Lester held his car door open for me. It was still parked out in front of the building, but now all of the spectators, media, and investigators were gone. The street was clear of barricades and police tape, and only the Fire Department was left, putting away their hoses after washing down the street and sidewalk. We made small talk as we drove downtown to the Federal Building where Lester would be dropping off Sandy Schulmann, in case anybody was watching. He pulled up the circular ramp into the parking garage and drove up several levels. He parked and waited a few minutes to see if we were followed, then pulled out of the garage onto the next street and took a different route to his house while I sat on the floorof the car. It got quiet on that drive. He glanced over at me a couple of times before he finally spoke.

"You okay, Steph?"

I just sat, hugging my knees. "Yeah, I guess. I'm just tired. It's been a long couple of days."

I rubbed my eyes and ran my hands over my face. I wanted nothing more than to get rid of this wig and the make up and the contacts, and stand in the shower and scrub myself free of Agent Sandy Schulmann. I had the feeling that the emotional rollercoaster that I had been on the past couple of weeks was in danger of running out of control.

"Don't worry about Ranger. He'll come around. You scared him, that's all, and he took it personally. He thinks that if you wanted him as much as he wants you, you wouldn't take those unnecessary chances." He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "He wants you to be as concerned about your safety as he is. You know I'm right."

I rolled my eyes. "We both have trust issues. Maybe we're unconsciously testing each other to see how hard we can push before the other will have enough and walk away." I leaned back against the door. I was so tired. "I guess I'm afraid I pushed him away for good."

Lester snorted. "Not a chance." He glanced over at me with a smile.

"Ya think?" I must have looked skeptical because he held out his hand and I took it.

"I know." He gave my hand a squeeze.

He hacked a U turn in the middle of Hamilton and tore into the drive-thru at McDonald's. God bless him, he understood the importance of comfort food. The kid at the window didn't even blink when he saw me sitting on the floor of the car. Five minutes and two bags of food later we were back on our way with me slapping Lester's hand as he stole my French fries. I had downed a Quarter pounder, a large fries and a coke, and was licking the last of the fried apple pie off my fingers as we pulled into his garage. I had to admit that I felt better than I had in a couple of days.

I couldn't wait to get into that shower and I made a beeline for the bathroom as soon as I got into the house. I yanked off the wig and just scratched my head, feeling like my scalp was two sizes too small. I stood in front of the bathroom mirror and peeled off the rubber facial pieces, cleaning off the makeup with the solvent Dean had given me. I turned on the shower while I stripped off the clothes and padding and stepped under the spray. I just leaned against the wall and let the water pound me. I think I used every drop of hot water that Lester owned.

I wrapped a towel tightly around myself and dried my hair. I was so tired I couldn't even think straight anymore. I brushed my teeth and washed my face one last time, just to make sure all the make up and glue and solvent was gone. Pulling on panties and a T-shirt I fell into bed and was lulled to sleep by the sound of the pouring rain hitting the windows.

I had vague dreams of Karvic pointing his gun at me, telling me it was time to go play, holding up handcuffs in front of my face, seeing myself laying dead in the street. I tried to run away but I couldn't move, my legs felt so heavy and I was so cold. Then Ranger was there holding me, his lips against mine, whispering softly and I wasn't afraid anymore.

I have no idea how many hours later it was when I woke up, but it was gray and overcast. My bladder felt like it was going to burst so I made a dash for the bathroom, then staggered back to bed and snuggled down under the covers. I heard low voices out in the living room, but sleep quickly claimed me again. Somewhere in the back of my brain it registered that somebody sat down on the edge of the bed. I was too comfortable and cozy to worry about it. I mean, if it were somebody who meant me harm, they would have already, right?

There was a tug on my hair and I grumbled and burrowed deeper into the covers. Another tug, this time harder, then a third. Finally I emerged from my burrow to find a grinning Lester sitting on the edge of the bed. He waved a cup of coffee under my nose. I yawned and raised up on my elbows, taking the coffee cup from him and slurping a sip out of it.

"Is there a reason you woke me, or is this just a new form of torture?"

"I have to go in to the office, Bombshell. There's a problem with one of the systems and I don't know how long I'll be."

"So am I gonna be here alone, or do I have new keepers?"

"Now, now! Let's not be testy. You know damn well you can't guard your own body." He waggled his eyebrows at me.

"Have you heard from Ranger? Is he okay?"

"You really were out of it, Bomber. He came in about an hour after we got home. We were out in the living room when we heard you crying; I guess you were having a nightmare. Ranger laid down with you and stayed until about 30 minutes ago." He grinned at me. "Still have worries about pushing him away?"

"I promised him I'd stay here until the whole thing was over. Did he come to check up on me? Did he think I lied to him? That I'd try to sneak out?"

"Now come on, Steph. The man can't stand to be away from you, and you know it!"

"Okay, okay. I get it. So who's taking over for you?"

"Hal and Hector."

"But don't they think I'm dead?"

"Exactly. So I need you to get up so that we can break this to them gently."

I scrambled out of bed, trying not to slosh the coffee all over everything. "Are they here yet."

"No, you have about 5 minutes to get your act together."

I chugged down the rest of the coffee and flew into the bathroom to do all the morning stuff. When I was as presentable as I was gonna get I pulled on my clothes. I cracked open the bedroom door and headed for the voices I heard in the kitchen. No sooner had I stepped into the kitchen then I was scooped up in a one armed bear hug. Hal had his arm in a sling from the explosion in the RangeMan garage, but he still had me in a death grip. I threw my arms around him and held on as he spun me around. When he finally set me back down on my feet, I looked up at him and he had tears in his eyes.

"Steph, I can honestly say that I've never been so happy to see anybody!" Hal kissed me, then immediately turned bright red. He put me down, embarrassed and flustered, and started to apologize.

"Hal, I feel the same way about you guys." I hugged him back and he seemed to calm down a little.

"Just don't tell Ranger that I kissed you, okay? I don't want my other arm in a sling, too." I had to laugh at him; he was just so sweet.

Hector was next, just hugging me to him and yelling at me in Spanish. I have no idea what he said, but when he finished yelling he gave me a hard smack on the ass and a resounding kiss on the mouth. He just hung on to me like he was never going to let me go. I finally broke away and we all sat around the kitchen table and talked about my 'death' and the disguises. Hector played the heartbroken suitor when he found out that there really was no 'Steve' and Lester joked that I had traded 'up' in the johnson department, compared to my boobs. When he saw the expression on my face, he decided that it was time to leave.

Since it was well into the afternoon, the three of us scrounged through Lester's well-stocked pantry for lunch. I was in heaven, food wise. Lester's bachelor kitchen was filled with every kind of quick, easy, junk type food imaginable: chips, dips, nachos, pizzas, frozen dinners, ice cream, candy, you name it. All the things that were forbidden at RangeMan, were stockpiled here. Hal, Hector, and I overdosed on junk food and parked ourselves in front of the big plasma screen TV with a huge bowl of KettleKorn popcorn.

I'm don't know exactly when I dozed off. I remember hearing Ricky yelling at Lucy, "Loooooocy, you got some 'splainin' to doooo," and I woke up to "I'd like to buy a vowel, Pat. Can I have an 'e'?" But I still didn't open my eyes. The 'Law and Order:SVU' doink-doink sound finally pulled me back into consciouness and I watched as Olivia and Finn chased a perp down an alley and dragged him back to justice. I was stretched out on the couch, snuggled up next to Hal who had his good arm wrapped protectively around me, while Hector was on guard.

Lester called and offered to pick up dinner for all of us, Pino's meatball subs and supreme pizza was the food of choice. We ate and talked and laughed and watched more TV and I was starting to get a little stir crazy. You'd think that after all the excitement of the last few days; I'd appreciate an opportunity to relax a little. But no, not me. I was here because I promised Ranger I would be, but left to my own devices, I'd be out beating the bushes for Karvic.

Filling us in on all the latest developments, Lester told us that Jono Le Blanc had been tailed to Kennedy Airport where he took a plane headed to Paris and from there had been followed to a house in Monaco where one of his many 'lady friends' lived. It looked like he planned on staying for awhile. He would be watched, just in case. The information network that Ranger tapped into never ceased to amaze me. He seemed to have contacts and friends all over the world. There was no sign of Karvic in Trenton. Ranger and Tank, and later on Hector would be trolling Stark Street looking for anyone who might have any information at all.

Christie called. The ATF and the FBI had both issued arrest warrants for Karvic, as well as for everybody else involved in the gang. His brothers had both been picked up, one in Jersey City and the other at the Military Distribution Center in Baltimore. DeMarco's brothers and sister had all been rounded up as well. The circle was closing and Karvic had fewer and fewer people to run to for help. It was just a matter of time before he was caught. Karvic had paid off my 'killer', Danny Flynn, a Fed from D.C., in cash. The whole thing had been caught on audio and video, so along with everything else, the Feds had him on solicitation of murder for hire. He stood to be put away for the rest of his life. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy!

I noticed that even though we had spent most of the day in front of the TV, no news shows ever came on. I had asked Lester to pick up a newspaper along with dinner, but somehow he forgot. I loved these guys for trying to protect me, but they were going a little overboard. When Hal got up to use the restroom, I commandeered the remote. The 11 O'clock News with Special Correspondent, Tiffi Trent appeared on the screen. Lester made a dive for the remote and I stuffed it into my shirt.

"Back off, Santos! Lay a hand on me and I'll tell Ranger that you had a few too many beers and made a pass."

"You wouldn't dare!" He grabbed his heart in mock shock.

I snorted. Has this guy ever met me? Who did he think he was jacking with? "You'd be betting your career on it. Is it really worth it?"

"My career, yes. My life? No. But I can always convince Hector to retrieve the remote. Ranger would never believe that he had a sexual motive. We'd just tell him that Hector wanted to see how much padding was in that bra of yours."

I screamed in mock outrage and beat Lester with a sofa pillow until he yelled 'Uncle.' Then we sat back to watch the news. Tiffi stood in front of the RangeMan building telling the story of my 'murder'. In the background, right where 'my body' had lay, there was something on the ground. As Tiffi droned on the camera panned the area. The something turned out to be flowers and balloons, handmade signs and stuffed animals, enlarged pictures of me from the newspapers, candles, and cards. It was a shrine, a memorial ... for me. I felt like someone had punched me in the chest and I couldn't breathe. I got up and stood right in front of the TV, watching as perky Tiffi finished her little blurb and signed off, the camera again panning over it all.

I pulled out the remote and punched the buttons, trying to find another local channel. Hal's arm came around me and Hector gently took the remote from my hand and turned the TV off. They pulled me into the kitchen where Lester opened a Corona and shoved a slice of lime into the bottle, handing it to me. I took a long pull and another. By the time I finished it, I was feeling a little better. Half way through the second beer, I could finally take a deep breath without it catching in my chest.

It was well after 1 am when I finally hugged and kissed the guys good night and went into my bedroom. I sat on the edge of the bed to take off my boots and socks and just flopped back onto the bed to think for a minute before I took my shower. I still hadn't spoken to Ranger and despite what Lester had said, I was more than a little uneasy. I eyed my cell phone and thought about calling him, it's what my heart was telling me to do. My head, on the other hand, was saying that there was a good reason he didn't call and maybe, if I called him, it would screw things up. 'He knows how bad I am about waiting, he'll understand,' said my heart. To which my head responded, 'Ranger will call when it's safe.' This 'think before you act' plan was a lot harder than it sounded. I blew out a deep breath and dropped the phone on the bed. I could wait, damnit. I could wait until the cows come home ... whatever the hell that meant!

I went and took a quick shower, drying my hair and wrapping a towel tightly around me before I went back to the bedroom to find something to sleep in. I went to the dresser and opened a drawer when out of the corner of my eye I caught a movement and my heart seized up. I picked up my Beretta that was on top of the dresser and turned to find Ranger sprawled in the armchair that sat in the dark corner by the bed.

"You frightened me." I lowered the gun and put the safety back on.

"Babe."

He held his hand out to me and I walked over to take it. He was ice cold and in the dim light I could see that he was pale and soaking wet. I went into the bathroom and got a towel and I stood between his long legs while I gently dried his face and hair. He sat with his eyes closed and allowed my ministrations, a shiver passing through him. His sweater was plastered to his torso and I pulled him forward in the chair so I could lift it off, tugging it over his head. I dried his neck and shoulders and when I leaned over to dry his back he wrapped his powerful arms around me and pulled me tightly against him, his head pressed against me. I tipped his face up to mine and bent to kiss him softly on his beautiful lips, my hands cradling his face.

He watched me through heavily lidded eyes as I slipped down to my knees so that I could dry his chest and abs. Fisting his hands in my hair he drew my mouth to his and my lips parted when the tip of his tongue teased them. He explored my mouth, his tongue stroking, seeking until I was breathless. My hands ran up his thighs, my thumbs brushing over his thick length to his waistband where my fingers made quick work of the button and zipper.

He stood suddenly and lifted me off the floor, carrying me to the bed where he laid me down and stood, watching me with his glittering black eyes, as he removed the rest of his clothes. He crawled onto the bed and hovered over me, fusing his mouth with mine and my every thought was gone. I could only focus on the sensations this man was creating in my body. Every time he touched me, a tiny shock of electricity would flash through me, right to my center. His hand slid under the towel I had wrapped around me and he explored my body He broke the kiss and slowly worked the towel loose and peeling it back like he was unwrapping a gift.

He lowered his lips to mine once more, and he licked my lower lip slowly, dragging the tip of his tongue along the crease of my lips, opening me to him. As he pressed his lips to mine, his hand moved up my side, fingers brushing the underneath of my breast until he cupped the weight in his palm. His thumb brushed over the taut nipple and lightening flashes of white-hot desire pulsed through me, causing me to buck wildly against him. I reached for him, but he captured my hands and crossing my wrists, placed them above my head. He pressed them gently into the mattress, letting me know that he wanted me to keep them there.

I tore my mouth from his, crying out his name as he moved down my body. His lips caressing my dampened skin, taking his time with each breast: tongue flicking and teeth gently grazing. He moved further down yet, across the flat plains of my abdomen, and even lower, cupping my hips in his hands and slowly pulling me closer. My eyes never left his, the sight of him mesmerizing as he licked his lips and moved his gaze to the part of me he had just uncovered. He moved his head lower until all I could see were his eyes, and when his tongue flicked out, I couldn't stop myself from moaning in pleasure. His hands stayed at my hips, keeping me from arching against him and when he brought me to the brink, he moved away, kissing his way back up my body until he settled on the spot where my neck met my shoulder and ran small tight, hypnotizing circles on that spot. Every inch of my body strained against him as he ran his hands up the inside of my thigh to the Promised Land. I was trembling so hard now that he murmured, "Easy Baby," against my throat and started to hum. If only he would move his hand another few inches, but he stopped moving and just kept humming against my neck. I dragged my eyes open to look at him ...

It was broad daylight and the sunshine was streaming in the bedroom windows. I was laying on my back, on the bed with my feet on the floor, fully clothed. My humming Ranger was my vibrating cell phone that was laying against my neck. SON OF A BITCH! More friggin' dream sex! I grabbed the phone and flipped it open.

"What?" I yelled.

"Babe? What's the matter? Are you alright? Where are the men?"

"Oh... Ranger… uh sorry. I guess I was dreaming." No man in here, that's for sure!

"Sounds like it was a pretty bad dream."

"The worst kind, but not in the way you think."

"Have you been having a lot of nightmares or trouble sleeping? It might be a good idea to see someone about that. Getting help is nothing to be ashamed of." His voice was full of concern and sympathy.

Oh jeez! Could this get any more embarrassing? "Ranger, I said it wasn't what you think."

"Babe. What was it then?"

"Just drop it, forget it, I'm fine." I was starting to sound a little testy here.

"I'm not going to drop it. There's obviously something wrong and ..."

"Okay Ranger," I barked. "You really wanna know? I'll tell ya! I'm so horny that I'm having dream sex. The only problem is that you get me all worked up, all hot and bothered, and then I wake up. No Big Bang, no Doomsday Orgasm, and I'm stuck here at Lester's with no _shower massager_. Happy now?" Just a tad snippy, I'd say.

There was dead silence on the other end, no breathing, no laughter, nothing. This was so not good. I waited and still nothing. I just sighed. "See? I told you to drop it. But nooooo, you just couldn't let it go."

I could hear him clear his throat. "I think then that the logical thing to do would be to sit down and discuss the problem and see if we can find a mutually agreeable solution. Do you agree?"

"It sounds like Wall Street Ranger is going to work on the problem of my sexual frustration. Does this mean that the Board of Directors will be involved? Because at this point, I could probably take 'em all on!"

"Not on this deal, Babe. Just the two of us. How about I bring dinner tonight and we have that talk?"

I took a deep breath. I was being a snot. "Sounds good to me. How are you anyway? I hated the way we left things the other night."

"I did too. That's why I came over, to talk. But you were unconscious and I didn't want to wake you."

"Lester told me you were here and held me when I started dreaming. No wonder I slept so well." I waited a few seconds, then said very softly, "I miss you."

"I miss you too, Babe, more than you know." There were a few seconds of comfortable silence. "I have some good news. I got word last night, but it was just confirmed a few minutes ago. Karvic was picked up in Philly."

I jumped up and was practically screaming. "Honest to God? Are you sure? Can I get out of here now?"

"Wait, wait, Steph! Hold on! Listen ..." When he was sure I was listening, he continued. "You can't leave yet. We have to make sure that everyone knows that Karvic has been caught and the contract is cancelled. It has to hit the papers for a few days first. Then, when we get the all clear, you'll be free to do whatever you want. Okay?"

"Okay. I can't tell you how great it'll be to have my life back." I got a little sick when I thought of all the Macy's sales I missed being cooped up and on the run from the bad guys.

"Steph, the Feds are gonna come to pick you up in about 2 hours. They want a sworn deposition from you about the murder at The Wharf. Also, Karvic is gonna be arraigned at the Federal Courthouse today. Be careful that you aren't seen by any reporters or anyone like that, okay?"

"Okay. Are you gonna be there? At the Courthouse, I mean? And do I need the disguise?"

"No Babe, but Haver and Christie will be. I'll send a couple of men just to be on the safe side. And no disguise. You need to go as Stephanie Plum."

"Alright. I'll see you tonight then. I love you." I hoped he could hear it in my voice, not just in my words.

"I love you too, Babe." I knew I could hear it in his.

I went into the kitchen and Bobby and Lester were on duty. I got coffee and had breakfast with them... real food, not bagels and fat free cream cheese. We had bacon and eggs and toast and juice and hash browns and Bobby was making waffles. If I wasn't careful, I'd fit into Sandy Schulmann's clothes without any padding necessary.

After helping to clean up the kitchen, oh don't laugh, I took a shower and did the hair and makeup thing. It was nice not to have to use glue and the prosthetics. Since this was my first appearance with the Feds, I thought I should try to look the part of the RangeMan professional. I didn't have a uniform here so I wore black wool stove pipe trousers, a red silk, long sleeved wrap shirt, black boots with a 3" heel and a black leather bolero jacket. With my black bag and long woolen dress coat, I looked pretty good.

I clipped my Sig to my waistband and the Beretta went in the ankle holster and I was good to go. The two dull, bland, vanilla pudding Feds showed up on time and acted the way Feds usually do. They were obviously bored and this assignment was clearly beneath them. As I got into the backseat of their car, one of them saw the Sig on my belt and had a fit. I assured them that I had a permit to carry concealed, but they made me take it off my belt and leave it behind. They didn't need to know about the ankle holster. Bobby and Lester decided to follow us to the Federal Building and we took off. Ho-Hum and Hum-Drum ignored me and chatted about what a prick the Regional Director was, and who the hot new female Special Agent had banged on her way up the ladder. Apparently they both hit on her and were turned down. The woman has good taste.

After hitting every traffic light in Trenton, Ho-Hum pulled the car onto the circular ramp of the parking garage. I thought that they were going to take me to the guarded entrance where Haver, Christie, and the Merry Men would be waiting for me. Bobby and Lester were following, but they had gotten stuck behind us in traffic.

I leaned up and put my hands on the back of the front seat. "Hey guys. Could you take me to the guarded entrance on the side of the building, please? That's where my lawyer and the DEA Agent is waiting for me."

Hum-Drum didn't even turn around. "Look Sweetie Pie, we aren't chauffeurs. Our assignment was to pick you up and bring you to the Federal Building. Looky, looky! You're at the Federal Building. You walk your ass to the elevator and hit the button and it takes you down to the side entrance. It's real simple."

I rolled my eyes. Where do they get these people? Or better yet, how come I attract these people? Yeesh! Karvic, Officer Picky, Joyce, and now these two. I must be some kind of a jerk magnet. They pulled off the ramp onto the 4th floor of the garage and parked close to the interior stairway and elevator. I pulled out my cell phone and called Christie, wondering whether the call would go through. Luckily it did.

Christie was telling me that they would come to meet me when I heard commotion in the background. I heard voices yelling and shots fired, people screaming. Christie yelled into the phone that I should take cover, out of sight. The walkie talkies that the two Feds had went off like fire alarms. They both snatched them off their belts and I guess heard pretty much the same thing I did. They pulled their guns and we high tailed it back toward the car.

We were about halfway there when the interior stairway door slammed open. Two men in ski masks carrying automatic weapons burst through the door leading a third man who was wearing a prison jumpsuit, cuffs and shackles. I dove between a couple of cars before they could see me. The Feds yelled to them to drop their weapons but were both mowed down in a hail of gunfire. Ski mask #1 shoved the prisoner against a wall and opened the shackles and cuffs with a key. When the man turned around, he looked directly at me and I found myself staring up into the smirking face of Vincent Karvic.

Almost immediately the elevator doors opened and Christie with Cal and Ram came out, their guns drawn. Ski Mask #2 opened fire on them but was hit in the leg and shoulder and went down, dropping his gun. Karvic picked up the weapon and turned to fire at the Merry Men. I launched myself at him, knocking the gun out of his hands and him to the ground. The gun skittered under a car and I couldn't reach it. Cal yelled to me to run, to get out of there. For once, it seemed like a good idea to follow orders, so I turned and duck walked around the cars until I got to the ramp and ran like the hounds of hell were chasing me, down the ramp and around the curve.

I could hear the screeching of tires coming up the ramp and I saw a speeding, dark green sedan, slow down as the driver saw me. I ran toward the car until I realized that the driver was wearing a ski mask. A gun pointed at me through the driver's window and fired off a couple of rounds. I took off running back up the ramp as the car revved behind me. I made it up to the first row of parked cars just in time to throw myself over the hood of a car and out of the way of the maniac behind me. The driver clipped the rear end of the parked car, shoving it into the next one, trapping me between the two cars, then squealed to a stop by the elevator.

I stood up, shed my long coat, and moved to climb over the car to get back down the ramp when a hand reached out and grabbed my hair. I was pulled back, hard, and I slammed against Karvic's chest. He stuck the muzzle of his .45 automatic under my chin, forcing me to tilt my head back.

"Well, well. Look who's back from the dead. I should have known it was a set up." He shoved the gun against my jaw a little harder. "I have nothing to lose, so do as you're told unless you want you brains splattered all over the walls. Understand?"

All I said was, "Yes"

Karvic yelled to Christie and the guys to clear out or he would kill me and I watched while they backed into the stairwell, their guns trained on the driver and Karvic and the other Ski Mask guy. Karvic put his arm around my waist and lifted me, using me like a shield we inched toward the car. Ski Mask held the back door of the car open for us and as we got to the car, Karvic put his gun to Ski Mask's head and pulled the trigger. The man flew back, away from the car, and fell on his back, just like the boy at The Wharf. Karvic backed to the car and my eyes found Cal and Ram, no emotion on their faces.

In the seconds before Karvic pulled me into the backseat and his gun smashed into my head, I mouthed the words, 'Tell Ranger that I love him.'

TBC ...

Sorry the chapter is late, I spent a couple of hours in the ER after I ripped the fingernail off my pinkie finger. I have lovely stitches and a splint and a great big bandage that looks just like a pe ... nevermind. It makes typing very difficult! Please review, Ranger and Steph want to break records with the number of reviews they get. Thanks to all Worm!'s loyal readers and reviewers. You're all fantastic!


	29. The Worm Turns!

Disclaimer: Janet Evanovich owns them all except the ones that are mine.

Warnings: **_GRAPHIC VIOLENCE, ATTEMPTED RAPE, LANGUAGE!!!_**

A/N: Special thanks to Akasha, Red, and of course, my darling Christie.

Only one more chapter and an epilogue to go. If you want to follow the sequel 'The Games People Play' be sure you click the Author Alert button when you leave the reviews for Ranger and Steph to read in bed. Thank you to all the wonderful readers and reviewers ... I can't say thank you enough!

As The Worm Turns!

Chapter 29: The Worm Turns!

Karvic didn't hit me hard enough to knock me out, but it hurt and I was dazed and disoriented. He backed into the car and pulled me in after him, ordering me to close the door. He laid down on the backseat and used me like a blanket to cover himself. My back was to his front so my head dropped back next to his and he moved the gun so that it was pressed into my cheek. He waited a second or two, then barked at the driver, "What the fuck you waitin' for? Move it!"

The driver floored it, and the car flew ahead, screeching down the tight spiral ramp going way too fast. The front fender scraped against the wall with a lurching impact that slammed me into the back of the front seat, then hit the rear fender the same way, tossing me backwards into Karvic. He pulled me back on top of him and wrapped his arm around my waist to hold me in place. The passenger side of the car was taking quite a beating. I was hoping the driver would hit it hard enough that one of the tires would blow, but no such luck.

"Jesus Christ! Wreck us we're all dead. Slow down and get us the hell outta here alive!" Karvic bellowed.

The driver didn't say anything, just followed orders and slowed enough that he could make the turns without hitting the walls but was still going too fast. The tires squealed as the car rounded another curve and skidded to a stop almost sideways as the driver locked up the brakes.

"What the fuck's the matter?" Karvic bellowed.

I could see between the seats and watched as the driver reached over and picked up a gun from the passenger seat, holding it next to his leg. Karvic slowly pushed me up to a sitting position, but now I was on his lap. When I looked out the windshield I saw two police cars, nose to nose across the ramp exit into the street. Cops and Feds and the SWAT team and RangeMen were lined up behind cars, guns drawn, pointing right at the car.

I scanned the faces and picked out Christie and Ram and Cal. Ranger wasn't there ... probably a good thing. If this son of a bitch was gonna put a bullet in my head, I didn't want Ranger to see it. I knew he would blame himself because he wasn't able to save me. I didn't want that for him. I didn't want him to spend the rest of his life haunted by my blood on his hands. As much as I wanted to look into his eyes, to tell him that I loved him, to absorb some of his strength and courage, I thanked God that Ranger wasn't here.

One man separated himself from the group and stepped in front of the police cars. Joe. He took off his jacket and put his weapons on the hood of one of the cars, then turned with his hands raised and slowly approached us. He stopped, maybe 10 feet from the car and lifted his shirt and did a 360 turn to show he had no weapons or wires. He stood with his hands held at shoulder height, his eyes locked on Karvic.

Karvic jammed the gun under my jaw so hard that I had to tip my head back as far as it would go. For a brief instant I thought that there would be a bruise there tomorrow morning. Then I realized that there probably wouldn't be a tomorrow morning for me. I couldn't see any way out of this one. Karvic grabbed my hair with his other hand and positioned my head in front of his. He couldn't be shot without the bullet getting me, too.

He told the driver to open the window, but I guess he was nervous because all the windows went down and the cold wind coming in from the street whistled through the car. I would have told you I was numb at this point, but a huge shiver went through me and Karvic whispered in my ear, "Cold, Sweet Lips? Well, don't worry. I promise I'll warm you up later." I closed my eyes tight. My stomach rolled and I wanted nothing more than to vomit all over him.

Joe had slowly approached the rear of the car and stopped about 3 feet away from the side of the car. I couldn't see Karvic's face, but I could hear the sneer in his voice when he said to Joe, "Well, well. If it isn't Detective Morelli. Waddaya want, Detective?"

"I'm authorized to offer you a deal, Karvic." Joe's eyes never left Karvic's face.

"Oh, now that sounds interestin', don't it Sweet Lips?" He tightened his grip on my hair and shook my head a little bit. I hissed in a breath at the pain and I could see Joe's jaw tighten but his eyes didn't waver from Karvic's. The sarcasm just dripped from his words. "Now waddaya suppose that deal is, huh?" He took his hand out of my hair and put it on my shoulder, running it down to my elbow and back up again.

"Let Miss Plum go and you'll be allowed to leave. No one will attempt to stop you." Joe's voice was even and neutral.

Karvic gave a harsh laugh. "Sure! And there'll be an armored car fulla money and a private jet to ta me ta Brazil. You forget who you're talkin' to. I'm not stupid! I KNOW the drill."

"Let her go and take me instead. I give you my word I won't try anything and I'll do whatever you tell me."

I turned my head just enough to look at Karvic. An evil smile split his face and he actually chuckled. "Nah. I'm stickin' with Sweet Lips, here. We got some ... unfinished business." Karvic ran his hand over my breast and squeezed. I concentrated on Joe's face and tried not to flinch.

Joe had taken another step closer and leaned his hand on the car door. "How about if the DA agrees to drop the kidnapping charges? Would that be enough for you to let her go?"

"How about I get a walk on ALL the charges? Federal, State, and local. In writing." Karvic looked at Joe and sneered. "Yeah, didn't think so."

Joe finally allowed his eyes to meet mine. He was in cop mode and wore his cop face, it gave nothing away.

"So I'll tell ya what, I got a deal for you. I got nothin' to lose. You shoot, she dies. You don't let us outta here, she dies. You try anything stupid, and you know. You let us go and maybe ... just maybe she makes it out alive."

"Let me see what I can do. I'll be back as soon as I get an answer." Joe and Karvic nodded at each other.

I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head about an inch so I could see out the back window. There, a good 20 feet behind the car, stood Ranger, surrounded by SWAT Team members with their automatic weapons trained on the car. I wasn't sure if they were there because we were in the car or to prevent Ranger from attempting a rescue. He stood with his feet spread and his arms crossed over his chest. He was dressed the same way the guys had been when they took me out of Vinnie's the day the photos of me had played on all the RangeMan computers. I wondered if he saw the humor in this whole situation. All the time and money and effort he and everybody else had expended, and here I was, my life on the line again, just by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. If I wasn't so scared, I'd laugh at the irony of the whole thing.

His beautiful eyes, that were almost always filled with affection or bemusement or lust when he looked at me, were hard and intense, boring into me. I felt a lot better when I remembered my last words to him were, "I love you." I could feel the hot tears pool in my eyes.

Karvic wouldn't give me a break. "Manoso's gonna miss you for real this time." He hissed at me. "This time he really gets to bury you. You two thought you were so smart. Thought you pulled one over on me." He licked up my neck and the side of my face. "I'm gettin' the last laugh. He's gonna find your body filled with my cum. He's gonna know that you died with me buried inside you and that you were screamin' my name when you breathed your last breath." He started to laugh and that was more chilling than anything he said to me. I couldn't seem to catch my breath and my heart stuttered in my chest. I turned my eyes to look for Joe and met the driver's eyes in the rearview mirror. Cold grey eyes stared back at me. I wouldn't find any help there.

I heard footsteps approaching and turned back to see Joe walk, slowly and deliberately up to the window. He put his hands on the roof of the car and bent down to look in. He looked tired and stressed, suddenly older, and we all knew what the answer to the question was. He looked at me and I saw his eyes widen microscopically. My fear must be written all over me.

"I tried. Nobody's willing to negotiate. We both knew that it was a long shot. Let her go, Karvic. Let her get out the other side of the car and I'll get in this side. You'll have your hostage and maybe ..."

I turned to look back at Ranger and Joe's voice faded away. All I could see were his eyes, never wavering, never blinking. I imagined that he was trying to send me courage and strength. I gave him a tiny nod, hoping that he could see me. I raised my fingers slowly to my lips and watched as he gave me a single, deliberate nod. We just stared into each other's eyes and I felt an overwhelming sense of calm come over me.

"Steph ... Steph ..." Joe's voice pulled my back from my thoughts. I tore my eyes away from Ranger and turned to look at Joe. He held his hand out to me and I took it. He pressed something tiny, about the size of a button, into my palm and I'm sure he saw the question in my eyes. Joe gave me a small nod and I pulled my hand back, laying it on my bare chest in the deep V of my blouse and letting the little whatever it was slide down into my bra.

I remember in high school, watching Joe from across the auditorium or cafeteria, as he held court with all his admirers. He used to entertain them, especially the girls, by doing slight of hand tricks. He'd show both sides of his hands to prove he had nothing in them, then he would pull coins out of the girl's ears or hair or bras. I always said that Joe had magic hands, I guess he still did.

Karvic was watching our little exchange and I let out a gasp when he grabbed my hand and forced the fingers open. When he saw that there was nothing there, he let me go. "You got any last words for your ex-boyfriend here, Sweet Lips, cause one way or another, we're gettin' outta here right now."

I turned my eyes to Ranger one last time, and gave him as good a smile as I could muster then I turned to Joe. "Joe, thank you for trying. I'm gonna ask you for a favor, that I know will be hard for you."

Joe looked stricken. "Anything, Cupcake."

I took a deep breath. "Promise me ... promise me you won't let him out of here alive. Shoot him, Joe. Shoot him, shoot him, shoot him ... " I was screaming at the top of my lungs.

Cursing, Karvic twisted his hand cruelly in my hair and pulled my head back. "Shut up you fucking bitch," he roared at me and stuck the barrel of the gun so far into my mouth that I gagged.

He turned on Joe, "You move those cars NOW or we're ramming them. Ten seconds Morelli! Ten ... nine... eight ... seven ... six ..." The car started to move. Five ... four ... I heard tires squealing and the car took off, flying off the ramp and out into the street. The sharp right turn knocked me off the seat and I looked up to see Karvic's fist coming straight at me. I turned my head as fast as I could but he still caught me a glancing blow on my cheekbone. I let myself crumple back onto the floor and I stayed there. With any luck he's think he knocked me out.

He lifted my head by my hair and decided I was out cold. "Fucking bitch." Was all he said. He slid down in the back seat, looking out the rear window to see if we were being followed. I guess we weren't because he didn't say anything else.

I was sitting awkwardly on my feet and they were beginning to get numb, but there was nothing I could do for fear Karvic would realize I was awake. He likes to hurt women, so it's a sure fire bet he'd hit me again. I was better off conscious. Maybe there was some way I could escape.

Every once in awhile I'd sneak a peek as the car hurtled through the city, taking back streets and old roads, staying clear of the highways and busier parts of town. We slowed and I realized we were in a derelict part of the city that looked like a war zone. It was so bad that it made Stark Street look upscale. Burned out shells of buildings and abandoned cars lined the streets. Nobody lived down here, there weren't even crack houses in this area. That alone should tell you something.

The car slowed more and made a sharp left into a driveway and made its way into the back alley. It made another right and rolled about fifty feet before coming to a stop. Karvic and the driver both got out, leaving me in the car. I heard the trunk of the car open and things being taken out and I could hear their voices. Well, I could hear them talking in whispers, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. It sounded like they were having an argument and finally, I heard Karvic snap, "No, we're doin' it my way, got that? You remember what happened to Sully. Same thing can happen ta you, so watch it!"

The one thing I did do was reach into my bra and pull out the 'button'. The tiny little thing could only be a GPS transponder and I wondered if it would still work if I swallowed it. I figured it would be the only way to keep it with my body. I shivered at the thought of my body being found. I decided not to take the chance and slid it into the bra cup, under my breast, where I usually put the wire when I was doing distraction jobs.

I heard them coming back to the car, so I played unconscious again. I was leaning against the door and when it opened, I let myself fall back. Luckily, Karvic caught me. The hardest thing was to let myself go limp when every iota of my body, mind, and soul wanted to fight him, to tear him to shreds. I wanted to inflict pain on him and make him hurt, make him pay, but I knew I didn't stand a chance.

He picked me up easily and carried me over to a panel truck and tossed me into the back, slamming the doors. I cracked an eye open and looked around. The truck was old and the carpeting I was laying on stank to high heaven. I saw a couple of duffle bags and suitcases. Cautiously getting up on my knees, I looked out the grimy back window of the truck and watched Karvic and the driver. Karvic had changed out of the prison jumpsuit into street clothes and they were wiping off the outside of the car. Fingerprints, I guess. There were a couple of gasoline cans sitting on the ground by the trunk.

I did a quick search of the duffles and found a couple of guns, two .45s and a .357, but no clips, so they wouldn't do me any good. But the wicked looking switchblade I found went right into my jacket pocket. It was dark in the truck so my search was pretty much by feel and my heart leapt as my fingers curled around a cell phone. I flipped it open with shaking hands and almost cried when I saw that it still had a partial charge. Frantically, I dialed Ranger. Please, please, please God, let him answer. Please ...

"Manoso." It was the most beautiful sound I ever heard.

"Ranger," I almost sobbed, "It's me." I was whispering, hoping he could hear me.

"Jesus Christ, Babe. Are you alright? We have you on GPS but can't get to you. Can you tell me what's going on?"

"I'm okay, at least for right now. Karvic has plans, though. They're transferring to a dirty grey panel truck, I'm in the back. They think I'm knocked out so I'm not tied up. They have suitcases and duffle bags and I found a couple of weapons. They aren't talking so I don't have any idea what they're gonna do next.

"The truck was probably stashed there, waiting for them. They had this escape carefully planned out which means that they know exactly what their next step is and they're not floundering around, looking for a way out. The fact that they were able to grab you was just sheer luck on their part. Karvic isn't stupid. You're safe as long as you're useful to them."

I raised up and looked out the window again. They were pouring gasoline all over the inside and outside of the car and quickly told Ranger.

"Babe, where's the GPS?"

"In my bra, but ..." My mouth wouldn't form the words that Karvic threatened to rape me and if he got my bra off me ... I just couldn't go there ...

"Babe, Joe planted a bug on the car door. We were able to hear everything. You listen to me ..." I heard him take a deep breath and his voice was rough when he spoke again. "You cooperate with them. You do what they tell you, you don't argue ... or resist. The minute you become too much trouble, you're dead."

I couldn't believe that he was telling me that I should just let Karvic rape me! Even though I was whispering, my voice was shaking. "Do you know what you're asking me to do? Do you know what he's going to do to me?"

"Stephanie," his voice was harsh. "I'm asking you to stay alive. I'm asking you to do whatever it takes to save your own life, to buy yourself time. We need to find out where they're taking you, and then set a plan in operation to get you out ... alive. That's gonna take time so we need every minute." He took another deep breath and his voice softened. "I love you and I need you. Please, Babe."

There's that word again. "I love you too, no matter what, don't forget that. Okay? They're coming. I love you."

I snapped the phone shut and stuffed it back in the duffle, then arranged myself on the floor the way Karvic had tossed me in. The front doors of the van opened and I caught a faint whiff of gasoline. The driver got behind the wheel and started the truck, backing it into the driveway. It stopped after a few feet and I opened one eye to see Karvic hold a lighter to a folded up newspaper. When it flamed he tossed it out the window and I heard the 'Whumpf' noise of the car catching fire. The truck backed down the driveway and into the street.

I couldn't see much from this vantage point, laying on the floor. If I wanted to look out the front windows, I'd have to raise my head. I couldn't take the chance of them seeing me move and knowing I was conscious. I was looking up through the windows in the back doors of the truck and pretty much saw only sky and rooftops. We drove in silence for about 10 minutes when I started to recognized some of the billboards on the tops of the buildings. I knew where we were. We were headed through the part of Trenton that was down by the old docks. Karvic knew to keep to the old, abandoned parts of town. There weren't a lot of cops down here, and in this old truck, they were pretty anonymous.

The truck finally turned off the street and drove very slowly over rough and bumpy ground. It lurched through pot holes and over what felt like speed bumps. I got the feeling that the driver had to go around obstacles in the road and I got bounced around pretty good.

From what I could tell, we were on the river side of a string of old warehouses down by one of the docks. Eventually, we pulled up next to one of them and Karvic opened his door and got out. In about a minute the truck started moving again, rolling slowly, and it pulled into the warehouse through the sliding barn-like doors. Once the truck came to a full stop, the driver hopped out and I could tell that the doors were being closed behind us.

It was almost totally dark in the truck but I could hear their footsteps echoing in the huge warehouse so I had a good idea of where they were. I heard Karvic tell the driver, "Get her out of the truck." I couldn't hear the answer but I know the driver said something. Karvic muttered, "God damn it!" and the back doors of the truck were yanked open.

Karvic grabbed me by the leg and pulled me over toward the bumper. He took my chin roughly in one hand and turned my head back and forth, shaking it. I couldn't help the groan that escaped me. He slapped my cheeks until they stung and snapped, "Okay Sleeping Beauty, time to wake up." Ranger had called me Sleeping Beauty once, how different that had been. I let my eyes open slowly and tried to look dazed and disoriented. Karvic grabbed me by my arm and hauled me out of the truck and up on my feet. I sagged back against the bumper because I really was dizzy.

I leaned against the back of the truck and while I waited for the dizziness to pass I looked around. I knew where we were. We in the warehouse part of The Wharf, dead Joey Dee's bar where I had seen Karvic kill that boy, where I had first met Christie, where I had worked the distraction to pick up Tony Panzarelli, and where I had my first run in with Karvic. It had all come full circle. Fate wouldn't be so twisted that I'd begin and end my acquaintance with Karvic in the same place, would it? Then again, this is me we're talking about. Ranger, hurry up, please.

The driver went over to the trapdoor in the floor and unlocked the big padlock, pulling the heavy chain through the hasp. He wasn't strong enough to lift the door by himself and Karvic started to go help him, looking at me with a smirk. "Don't you try and run away now, Sweet Lips. There's no place to run and no place to hide that we won't find you." He reached out to touch my face and I automatically pulled back from him. A flash of fury crossed his face and he reared back and slapped me with his open hand so hard it took me down to the floor on my hands and knees.

I tasted the sharp coppery flavor of my own blood. He had split my lip. One more thing to add to the tab he owed me. I promised Ranger I would cooperate with them, that I wouldn't resist. I would act the part of the terrified victim. But I would play along only as far as it would do me any good. If Karvic was gonna kill me, I wasn't going easy. I would fight tooth and nail with everything I had in me. I owed that to myself.

I stayed on the floor until he came back and dragged me to my feet. He pushed me toward the other set of rolling doors, the ones that led into the club part of the warehouse. He opened the big padlock and again I heard the chain run through the hasp and hit the floor. It was an ominous sound and sent a shudder through my body. I was like one big raw nerve at this point, spooked and jumpy. I had to get myself under control, and quick. I had to keep my head. Karvic shoved me through the door into the hall, and shoved me again to keep me going.

When I didn't move fast enough he grabbed me by the elbow and dragged me down the hall through a door marked 'Office.' This must have been Joey's little hide away. I hadn't been in here on the two occasions I'd been The Wharf. Karvic flipped on the lights and I took a look around. It was just a sleazy as I had expected it to be. There were cheesy pictures of nudes painted on velvet hanging on the walls, red satin curtains framed the doorways. There was a daybed in one corner of the room fully draped in red velvet, piled high with red pillows. The ceiling of the whole room was mirrored. It looked like a bordello from a class D movie.

Karvic looked around the room and apparently didn't see what he was looking for. He stuck his head out the door and yelled for the driver, "Come here." He came in almost immediately, making me think that he had followed us but stayed out in the hall.

Karvic looked at him and said, "Let's get this over with." I tensed right up but neither of them made a move toward me. The driver took off his gloves and unzipped his coat, throwing it onto the desk. When he turned around, I realized that he was a SHE. Not only was he a she, but SHE was wearing the necklace that I had given Christie to give to the fake hitman to use as proof he had killed me. It was the little handcuff necklace that the guys had given me at my party. I guess my mouth hung open because she looked at me and laughed out loud.

She walked over and stood in front of me, lifting the tiny cuffs and swinging them slightly.

"They're his favorite sex toy, Stephanie. Mine, too." Karvic had said that to me at the Police Station. Sarcasm dripped from her words. "I'm hurt. You don't recognize me."

She dropped the cuffs back onto her chest and raised her hands to the ski mask, slowly peeling it off. "Surprise." She practically chirped as she ripped it off of her head. I was looking into the grinning face of Stella Martucci, the Police Chief's secretary. I'm sure the shock registered on my face because Stella went off into gales of laughter.

"Stella, come on. We have to find it." Karvic had been tearing the paintings off the walls and was ripping down the drapes from the doorways.

Stella gave me a shove and I stumbled back into a chair. "Sit." She ground out at me, the smile gone. She went to the daybed and flung the pillows off, pulling the bedding onto the floor followed by the mattress and finally, pushing the box spring aside. "Found it."

Under the daybed, hidden by the bedding and the bed skirt, was a safe. It was positioned on its back so that the combination lock faced up. Stella dug in her pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. Handing it to Karvic she turned to me with a evil grin on her face. "You'd be surprised at the things people will tell you when there's a gun barrel in their ear. He told me all his secrets before I pulled that trigger." The woman giggled like a girl. She sounded so please with herself. She also sounded crazy as a loon.

"Tell me something, Stephanie. Why didn't you marry Morelli? You wouldn't be here right now if you had. You'd be sitting in his Aunt Rose's house, picking out new kitchen curtains, and deciding what to name your kids. Wasn't that life good enough for you? Are you ABOVE being a housewife and a mother? Are you something special, Stephanie? Well are you? Come on, Cupcake," she sneered the word, "tell me why Joe wasn't good enough for you? Oh wait, I know why. Manoso. You're his Babe." She spat the words at me. "All his money and cars and buildings, can't save you now, BABE."

She was pacing back and forth in front of me. There was a wild look in her eyes and she had pulled a gun from the back of her waistband and was waving it around. She stopped right in front of me, suddenly calm. "I would have married him, you know. I always knew how special he was. I would have had his dinner on the table at 6pm and I would have washed his clothes and I would have had his babies." She looked at me and I could see tears in her eyes. "But he never saw me. Oh, he was always kind and polite. He gave me a lift home when my car wouldn't start last winter. He always spoke to me when he came in to see the Chief. I remember every word he ever said to me. But he could never see past you. And you're such a slut, you have no moral compass. You should have married him! Even if you weren't in love with him, you should have married him just to make him happy! You threw him away to be ... BABE!"

She raised the gun and pointed it at me, I closed my eyes tight and curled myself into a ball, as if that would protect me from the bullet. I waited for her to pull the trigger but instead, she started to laugh. I opened my eyes and looked at her. She was standing in front of me with tears of laughter streaming down her face. Karvic stood behind her, his arm wrapped around her waist. He was kissing her neck and fondling her breasts.

"Did you have fun, Baby? Tell Daddy, did you have fun playing with our little toy, hmmm?" Holy God, they were both insane.

Stella wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "This was better than Joey Dee. I thought that him pissing himself was funny, but this ..." She waved her hand at me. "This was absolutely perfect. It gets better each time. But I don't think that Manoso's going to be any fun. He has no fear of death and absolutely no sense of humor. I'll just shoot him outright. I won't waste my time trying to make him squirm. I'll just make sure he finds her body first."

Stella turned in Karvic's arms and kissed him deeply and noisely. His eyes were on me the whole time and when Stella's hand went between his legs to stroke him, he groaned and threw his head back. "It's time, Baby," he said to her. She gave him a final kiss on the lips and took the plastic bag he handed her.

"Ohhhh, Vic. It's heavy. How much was in that safe?" She hefted the bag over her shoulder like Santa's sack.

"Looks to be a couple of mil. Rio, here we come!" He gave her a resounding kiss and smacked her on the butt as she went through the door. "I'll meet you down in the boat when I'm done."

He closed and locked the door behind her and turned to me.

"My turn to play. Get over there by the bed and undress ... slowly." He turned on the CD player and the room was filled with typical bar music.

I got up and walked over to the daybed. The mattress and box spring were back in place and so were some of the pillows. I had to be careful if I didn't want him to catch on that I had weapons. The switchblade and the Beretta in the ankle holster could mean the difference between life and death ... mine.

Very slowly, with my back to him, I took off my jacket and laid it on the bed, making a conscious effort to move to quickly. I had slipped my hand into the pocket and had retrieved the knife and I opened it and put it under one of the pillows. I unbuckled my belt and slowly pulled it through the loops of my slacks and tossed it on the floor. The 4" stiletto heels on my FMBs had a metal tip and were so narrow, I couldn't stand on one foot, so I sat on the edge of the bed to take them off. I was able to slip the Beretta out of the holster and stash it near the knife. The holster went into the boot. The pain in my chest made me realize that I was holding my breath and I sucked in a couple of lungs full of air.

I stood up and ran my hands through my hair, swaying my hips in time to the music. Karvic was sitting in the chair I had vacated and was rubbing himself while he watched me through hooded eyes. I moved to open my slacks and he looked at me and shook his head, pointing to my shirt with his gun. I untied the wrap shirt and peeled back first one side, then the other, taking as much time as I could. I turned my back again, sliding the red silk down my arms and letting it fall to the floor. I moved on automatic pilot. All I could think was ... Please Ranger, please come soon. I don't think I can do this ...

The slacks came next, I opened them and they pretty much just slid down my legs. I stepped out of them and just stood there, unsure of what to do next to take up more time. Karvic stood and walked over to me, circling me. He put his hand on my back and kept contact as he walked around me, dragging his fingers over my breasts. He laughed when I shuddered.

He stopped in front of me but I wouldn't meet his eyes. "Undress me ... slowly."

My hands were shaking so hard I could barely unbutton his shirt. Apparently I was too slow because he ripped his own shirt off sending the buttons flying and he pulled his T-shirt over his head. He took my hand in his and forced it over his chest and down over the front of his pants, making sure I knew how hard he was. My stomach rolled and I could taste the bile that came up in my mouth.

He grabbed me by my hair and crashed his mouth down on mine. I fought to twist away, but he jammed the barrel of his gun into my temple and I froze. "Play nice, Sweet Lips," he whispered in my ear. "You might even enjoy it." He licked my neck as he wrapped his arm around my waist and lifted me, carrying me over to the bed and laying me on it. He kicked off his shoes and climbed onto the bed, straddling me. I let my hands lay by my head, my fingers under the edge of the pillows.

Karvic licked his lips as he looked down at me. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a knife matching the one I found in the duffle. He held it in front of my face as he flicked it open. He took the knife in one hand and slipped the blade under a bra strap and sliced through it like butter. With his other hand he squeezed my throat, hard enough to make it difficult to breathe. He did the same with the other strap. Running the very tip of the blade over my chest, he ran it between the cups and cut through the lace. He reached up and stabbed the knife into the wall over my head, then looked down at me to see my reaction.

He unbuckled his belt and unzipped his pants, pulling himself out. With an sick grin he leaned down and bit into my shoulder, gently at first then increasing pressure until I felt the skin break under his teeth. I watched the white faced, terrified woman in the mirror over the bed. I didn't know who she was, but she looked so scared. When I hissed at the pain of the bite and he sat up and slapped me.

His hands were on my breasts now, bruising them. My brain shut down. In my head I heard ... Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. He lowered his weight onto me, forcing my legs apart. Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee, Hail Mary, full of grace ... His hands went to my hips, ripping the white lace of my panties ... the Lord is with thee ... my fingers found the knife ... Hail Mary ... Hail Mary ... Hail Mary ... I stabbed him as hard as I could and ripped the knife through his flesh. I heard him scream like a wounded animal.

I pushed him with all my might and he rolled off me and onto the floor. I scrambled off the bed and tried to get past Karvic who was writhing on the floor, screaming. He grabbed my leg and pulled me back, knocking me off balance and making me fall to my knees. Wrapping his arm around my waist, he hauled me over his chest and shoved me face first into the floor, his weight on my back.

He straddled me, sitting on my ass and put his hands around my neck from the back and squeezed, pulling my head up off the floor to slam my face back down again. My hands swept the floor searching for anything I could use as a weapon. I grabbed my boot and as he brought his head down I swung my arm back and hit him in the forehead with the metal tipped, 4", stiletto heel so hard that the heel embedded in his head. He let out a high pitched wail and let go of me. I bucked him as hard as I could, coming up on my hands and knees. He fell sideways off of me.

Lurching to my feet I scanned the room for anything else I could use on him. On the edge of the desk was a marble statue, about 12" high. It was a naked man standing with his head thrown back and his hands in the hair of the naked woman on her knees in front of him, giving him a blow job. Perfect! I grabbed the statue and just as Karvic was coming up on his knees I swung it like a baseball bat and caught him full in the face. His eyes widened in shock as the blood spurted from his smashed nose and his mouth opened and closed like a goldfish, his teeth broken and his lips split. Karvic blinked rapidly and his eyes rolled back in his head as he fell over backward in slow motion, landing spread eagle on the floor.

I left him lying there, his pants unzipped and his limp dick hanging out. He was gushing blood from his leg, maybe I got an artery. I hoped so. A pool of blood was spreading under his head. Strangely, I felt no remorse or guilt as I looked down at him. I picked up the knife off the bed and leaned down, wiping the bloody blade on his pants leg and closing it.

I had fought for my life, and I had won.

I put on my pants and shirt, stuck Karvic's gun into the back of my pants and the knife in my pocket. I left the office in search of that bitch, Stella. I'd be damned if I was gonna let her hurt my man!

TBC ...

Please read and review ... Ranger and Steph love them so much. Also, if you want to be notified when 'The Games People Play' starts, click the Author Alert button. Thanks!!


	30. Flying Fish!

Disclaimer: It all belongs to Janet Evanovich!

Warnings: You name it, you've been warned.

A/N: Special thanks to all the readers and reviewers, to all the betas, editors, and friends who have taken their time and energy to support, encourage, scold, sympathize, brainstorm, joke, hand hold, cringe, cry, and eyeroll with me. Each and every one of you has contributed a bit of yourself to Worm! Thank you isn't good enough.

As The Worm Turns!

Stayce (XJerseyGirl)

Chapter 30: Flying Fish!

My bra was in shreds but my panties were semi-intact. That was a good thing, right? I put on my silk shirt and slacks. At least everything important was covered. I didn't put my boots back on, though. I could move much more quickly and quietly in bare feet. Plus, I didn't want to have to pull the heel out of Karvic's head. I didn't want to have to touch him at all, but I really didn't have much choice. I used my foot to shove him over onto his stomach, then secured his hands tightly behind his back with one of the tiebacks from the satin curtains. I used another one to tie his feet together and my belt to hogtie his hands to his feet. I stood back and studied my handiwork. I did pretty damn good, if I do say so myself.

I had Karvic's blood all over my hands and I needed to wash them off. Joey Dee had a small bar in the Office, so I cracked open a bottle of vodka and washed my hands with it, dabbed some on the bite on my shoulder, then took a slug and swished it around in my mouth and spit it on Karvic. It made my split lip burn like a bitch, but I felt like I needed to cauterize every part of me that Karvic touched. I rinsed off with a bottle of water and chugged down half a Coke. I could feel the sugar and caffeine coursing through my body. I felt better in minutes. It would have to do.

I hunted around and found the GPS on the bed. I stuck it in my pocket then reached up and tried to pull his knife out of the wall. I couldn't budge it so I bent it, putting all my weight into it, and the handle snapped off. It wouldn't do anybody any good now. Karvic's Smith & Wesson was on the desk but when I checked it, it only had two rounds in it. He had used it in the shoot out with the Feds at the garage and hadn't bothered to reload. I checked his pants pockets, but no extra clip. I only had the eight shots in the Beretta, and that would have to be enough fire power. After all, I wasn't going after Rambo.

I took a final look at Karvic. I knew he was still alive, I could hear him breathing through his broken nose. I went over to the door and put my ear against it, listening for any sound. Nothing. Turning off the light before I cautiously cracked the door open, I sneaked a peak up and down the hall. Luckily, it was empty.

I carried Karvic's Smith & Wesson in my hand, put my little Beretta Cheetah in my waistband and the switchblade in my pocket. I was carrying two guns and a knife ... just like Ranger. Well, almost. I made my way down the hall toward the club, keeping to the deepest shadows. I needed to find a phone and I knew there was one behind the bar, plus a pay phone by the restrooms. I was going to do a quick search of the whole place just to make sure that there were no surprises.

I was surprised when I glanced at the clock on the wall and realized we hadn't been here all that long. It just felt like I got here hours ago. I was also glad that I took matters into my own hands and wasn't waiting to be rescued any minute, either. Karvic had a Federal Arrest Warrant against him. That meant that the Feds were at the top of the pecking order on this one, so this was their show, and they might not be here for days. The Feds wouldn't be sharing any information about my location with the cops or Ranger. Think Government mentality here. First the bureaucrats would access the situation, then clear that with the higher ups, then develop a course of action, then clear that with the higher ups, then assemble a team, then clear that with the higher ups, well, you get the picture. Christie had told me some stories about governmental red tape and some of the cases she had worked. Still, I was hoping that Ranger would figure out where I was and find a way to show up and get me the hell outta here.

I did a quick scan of the bar and nothing seemed out of place. My spidey sense wasn't humming, either. It was dark and quiet but I still wasn't taking any chances so I bent down and made a dash across the room, sliding to a stop on the floor behind the bar. I reached up and patted my hand around, searching for the phone, pulling it down into my lap by the cord. Shit! No dial tone. It must have been disconnected. I needed to check out the pay phone, just in case, so I crawled on my hands and knees over to the wall and duck walked to the phone. It was dead too.

Just for the hell of it, I took a look at the front door. It was a heavy, solid metal fire door and it was locked, dead bolted and chained shut. The place didn't have any windows, and the one fire exit was chained and padlocked like the big rolling barn doors were. There was no way out in here. So much for that escape route, there was no choice but to go back the way Karvic brought me in.

I slipped back down the hall, being as quiet as I could. I had no idea where Stella was and didn't want her to have an opportunity to take me by surprise. I didn't want to confront her, I had a feeling that she was even more dangerous than Karvic. The thought of a shootout with her just wasn't all that appealing.

She had told Karvic she would meet him down in the boat. I guess that's why they opened the trapdoor in the warehouse floor, the stairs there went all the way down to the river. I had to admit that was a pretty smart escape route. They could go up river or down. Going upriver would take them all the way to New York and down river, they could go all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. Either way there were a million places to pull to shore, or take any of the thousands of creeks and streams that went inland in either New Jersey or Pennsylvania.

I couldn't let Stella leave here. I just couldn't let her escape. My spidey-sense told me that there was more to Stella than just the mousey secretary that everybody knew her as. Karvic was hot headed and impulsive, a real loose cannon. Something told me that he didn't have it in him to be the brains behind this whole operation. I'd bet my money on Stella for that role. She had admitted to killing Joey Dee in front of me. She had been an accessory in my kidnapping, attempted rape, and what would have been my murder. If she really was involved in the gun running, that meant she was an accomplice in all those other crimes as well. She would go away for the rest of her life.

I stopped at the office door and listened, no movement inside so I cracked the door and peeked in. Karvic was still breathing, so at least I didn't kill him, a good thing, I guess. I closed the door quietly and started down the hall toward the back of the building when a small noise made me freeze. I listened again, turning my head, trying to locate the source. Finally I heard it again, coming from the warehouse.

I stepped into the dark locker room and flattened myself against the wall, flipping the safety off the Smith & Wesson. If I peeked my head around the corner of the stalls, I could just see the reflection of the hall in the mirror. I didn't hear anything else, just my pulse pounding in my ears. I had just about decided that my imagination was playing tricks on me when I heard another sound, and this time, I could identify it. The door into the warehouse had opened and closed.

As the quiet footsteps came closer, I thought I heard humming, and I watched in the mirror as Stella passed the opened locker room door and walked down to the office. Her voice had kind of weird, sing songy quality as she knocked on the door and called out, "Oh Daddy, are you through having your fun yet? Come on! Hurry up, I was waiting down in the boat and it's getting cold. Daddy?" I heard her knock again. "Vic? Answer me. Vi ..." Her voice went off into a scream. Guess she opened the door.

I thought about trying to make it down the hall and out into the warehouse while I had the chance. There were more places to hide there and more ways to get out of the building. Before I could move, though, I heard Stella come crashing out of the office and into the hall. I could hear her as she slammed against the wall, whimpering. The whimper turned to a wail and then she started screaming, "I'll kill her! I'll kill the fucking bitch!" As she screamed she fired off round after round in the hall and I hit the floor.

I was too stunned to count the shots, but when she finally stopped shooting she was crying hysterically, heaving big gulping sobs. She started to choke and cough, then gag and she stumbled into the locker room and into a stall. I couldn't help but hear as she vomited a couple of times. I cautiously moved away from the stalls, back into the darkest corner of the locker room, and hid behind a big trash can. I could heard her gulping in huge breaths of air and she slowly calmed down. After a minute or so I heard the water run in a sink, and the clank of something metal hit the porcelain. The unmistakable sound of a clip being shoved into a gun quickly, and a round being chambered, brought me to attention. Stella looked in the mirror and straightened her hair, then she calmly walked into the hall and stood for a minute, listening, I suppose.

"Stephanie? Steeeeeeph-anie? Come out, come out wherever you are." Her voice was sing-song and child like, and definitely creepy. "You can't hide from me and I will find you. You have to pay for what you did." She was silent for a minute, listening. "Stephanie," she screamed this time. "Stephanie? I have nothing left to lose Stephanie." She practically spit my name every time she said it. "It's all your fault, you know. If you had just kept your mouth shut, none of this would have happened. You took everything away from me. And now I'm going to take everything away from you."

She walked down the hall and into the warehouse leaving the door wide open. I crept out of the locker room and followed her down the hall, hiding behind the crates and boxes piled there. I made my way from crate to crate until I was right outside the door. She was standing in the middle of the open warehouse floor and I could hear her, talking on a cell phone in a stage whisper. " ... need Ranger," I heard her say, her voice weak and desperate. "I'm bleeding ... bad ... I'm so cold. I think Karvic's dead ... I'm alone, in the warehouse, by the ... back ... door ... please, hurry ..." She snapped the phone shut triumphantly. Damn, she had sounded like me. The bitch was luring Ranger here to kill him.

Stella raised her gun in the air and fired off a shot. "Stephanie," she called loudly. "Do I have your attention? The helpful RangeMan on the other end of the phone said that your Ranger was only a few minutes away. This is your only chance to save him. Come out now, last chance ... " She sounded crazier by the second. "Alright Stephanie, we'll play the game your way. I'm going to kill him, but you can TRY to save him. Winner takes all." She threw her head back and laughed like she was having the time of her life. The woman was certifiable!

She casually strolled over to the other side of the warehouse to the big sliding doors that she had driven the truck through earlier. She couldn't know about my Beretta, but she might have seen that Karvic's gun was missing, which meant she'd know I was armed. Stella knew that I couldn't or wouldn't just shoot her down, and she was playing this for all she was worth. Taking a large, old fashioned key from her pocket and opening the padlock, she let the chain slide through the hasp and hit the floor. Under cover of the noise, I grabbed my chance and flew through the door and across the floor to hide behind a pile of crates.

Too late I realized that I was working the downside of an adrenaline high and I could feel myself crashing fast. My legs felt weak, I was shaking and my pulse was hammering in my ears to the point I couldn't hear anything else. I had to bite my lips to keep from gulping in the air that my lungs seemed so starved for. I forced myself to breathe through my nose and willed myself to calm down. There was no safe place to hide, and even if there was, I couldn't let her kill Ranger. I had no choice, I had to try to stop her.

I couldn't see her but I was hoping Stella was still on the far side of the truck, by the outer door. If I could just get the drop on her, then everything would be alright. I could hold her until Ranger got here and that would be the end of it, simple, easy. But who was I kidding, nothing in my life was ever simple or easy. As chilly as it was, I was starting to sweat. With my pulse pounding in my throat, I took a deep breath and streaked across the warehouse floor, plastering myself against the side of the truck.

I crawled on my hands and knees to the back of the truck and did a quick look around the back bumper to the warehouse door. Nothing. I tried it again, leaning out a little further this time, but again, nothing. Shit! I was in here with a lunatic woman, armed to the teeth and I had no idea where she was. I looked around to find another hiding spot and as I turned, I realized that Stella was standing right behind me.

"Hello Stephanie." She smiled sweetly at me, and before I could react, she swung the padlock right into my head.

x x x x x x x x x x x

I don't think I actually remember the padlock hitting me, just the explosion of white light behind my eyes. I know the expression about seeing stars, but I saw rainbows. I heard laughter as the swirling ribbons of color wrapped me up and carried me off.

I don't know how much later it was when I came to, but the long shadows told me that at least a couple of hours had passed. My head was pounding and I was incapable of lifting it. I pried my eyes open a crack and tried to look around and came to the slow realization that the rainbows were the multicolored duct tape that was wrapped around my legs and I supposed my hands, because they were secured behind my back. Genius that I am, I figured out that I couldn't lift my head because I was taped up like a mummy. The tape that covered my mouth was wrapped around my head and my head and hair were taped to my shoulders. I'm pretty sure the bitch had fun cause I think this is where the laughter came in.

I must have groaned or made some noise to alert Stella that I was awake because she showed up almost immediately. She didn't say anything, just stood in front of me, arms folded, tapping a toe. Since I couldn't raise my head and it hurt too much to roll my eyes up, I really couldn't see her face.

She squatted down in front of me and smiled that friggin' sweet smile of hers. "Comfy, Stephanie? I really don't want you to be in any distress while you're watching the show." Oh my God! She called to get Ranger to come here. My eyes swept the warehouse, looking for him.

I must have looked confused, because she shook her head at me and tsk-ed. "You really are dense, aren't you? How have you managed to live this long and be this stupid?" Her voice was laced with sarcasm. "Fake phone call Stephanie. I needed to make you come out of hiding, and it worked." She shook her head in dismay. "Your poor mother, how she must worry about you. You've made her a laughing stock in our neighborhood, you know." I think Stella missed the point on how HER mother was gonna be taking hits over this little fiasco.

Stella stood up and came closer. "As much fun as it was, I guess I went a little overboard with the tape. Here, let me give you a little more freedom of movement." She reached in her pocket and pulled out the switchblade that I had used on Karvic.

I guess I tensed up and pulled away a little, and she found this humorous. "Oh don't worry Stephanie. It isn't time for you to die yet." She cut through the tape on the side of my head and ripped. I almost came up off the floor. She must have pulled out half my hair. "Ooops. Did that hurt? I'm so sorry, but at least you can move your head now. And let's face it, Dear. It's no great loss. Your hair was always a mess anyway." She tossed the piece of tape onto my lap. Oops, my ass. She did that on purpose. There was enough hair there for a whole other human. Bitch!

I raised my head to look at her. For as crazy as she had sounded earlier, she didn't look it. All the crazy things she had said before just didn't jibe with the calm, composed woman who stood before me. Stella had a reputation at the Trenton PD of being a jewel. She ran the Chief's hectic office and kept him on his impossible schedule, made sure he never missed a family birthday or anniversary, or his weekly poker game with my Dad at the Lodge. She poured oil on troubled waters and was kind and compassionate with the families of crime victims. She never missed Mass, was active in the Church and the 'Burg, and took care of her elderly, and very demanding, mother. It was said that she'd never had a date much less a sexual relationship, and should have been a nun since she was bound to die a virgin. She was looked upon as something of a saint, because she sacrificed her happiness for that of others. Man, were people in the Burg gonna shit!

Stella sat on a crate in front of me. "Alright Stephanie, this is what's going to happen. You're very well concealed up here, high enough to see everything, but not easily seen from the floor." I looked around and realized that we were on top of a mountain of huge shipping containers. Smaller crates and boxes were carefully arranged into a makeshift stairway to the top. "I had a very difficult time getting you up here. You'll have some big bruises tomorrow." She stopped and rolled here eyes. "Oh, silly me. You won't be having a tomorrow, but I'm sure you already guessed that, didn't you?" She was holding and Glock in her hand and was waving it around for emphasis as she talked.

"You have to understand, Stephanie. I had everything I wanted. I had a man who loved me and couldn't get enough of me." That visual alone made my stomach roll. "I had a good business going, made a lot, a LOT of money, and people respected me. Then you came along and ruined it all. If you had just given Vic what he wanted, none of this would have happened."

I guess a shot her a look of disgust because she really tried to make me understand her psycho reasoning. "Well, Stephanie, it isn't like you're a virgin or are saving yourself for marriage or anything. You had quite a dating roster in college, and then there was Dickie, and your relationship with Joe Morelli and now this Ranger person. So why didn't you just give Vic what he wanted? A little pat and tickle would have been no skin off your nose, or any other body part for that matter. You just had to go and ruin everything by lodging that formal complaint."

Stella got up and started to pace back and forth, still waving the gun. "So here's what's going to happen. I will call Ranger and get him to come here. I will kill you both as a warning to anyone else who defies me. When I leave here, I will kill your parents and grandmother, your sister and her children. I will destroy the rest of the Plums. It will be a lesson to anyone who even thinks about disobeying me. I'm sure that the police will find Vic and he will pay for his stupidity in letting you get the better of him. And I, I shall make my escape and live happily ever after with all my beautiful money." She sighed contentedly. "Isn't that a lovely story?"

She acted like she had just told a bedtime story to a child. Something, some emotion passed over her face and she patted my cheek, with a small smile. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a cell phone and punched a number. As it rang, she put it on speaker phone.

A deep male voice answered, "Good Afternoon, RangeMan." It was Hal.

Stella smiled and wrinkled her nose at me. "Help me ... please ..." she breathed into the phone, then bit her lip to keep from laughing.

Hal hesitated, I knew he was starting a trace on the call. "Who is this please."

Stella whimpered. "Please ... I need ... Ranger. I'm ble ... bleeding. Ranger ... I, tell him ..." She danced herself around in a circle.

I started to struggle against the tape and to scream. I couldn't say anything intelligible, but I tried to make as much noise as I could. Stella pulled out her gun, flipped off the safety and pressed it into the middle of my forehead. I stopped making noise and squeezed my eyes shut.

"Stephanie? Stephanie, this is Hal. Where are you, Steph. I need you to tell me where you are."

She whimpered into the phone. "Wharf ... Ranger .. tell him ... Hal, tell ... so cold ... I'm so cold."

When I opened my eyes, Stella was whimpering into the phone and checking her watch. She must have thought enough time had passed for them to trace the call through the cell towers, and she dropped the phone. The battery flew one way and the shattered case, the other. She took the gun away from my head and looked down at me.

"Do you want me to kill you now?" I shook my head 'no'. "Behave yourself and I just might be compassionate and allow you and your love to die together. Do not try to cause any trouble Stephanie. I can make your death quick and painless, or if YOU choose, I can make you suffer. I have all the power." She gave me a jaunty salute me by touching the barrel of her gun to her forehead. Too bad she didn't pull the trigger. Then she turned away, chuckling to herself.

I watched as she climbed down the stacks of crates and boxes to the floor of the warehouse and ran over to the truck. She turned around and waved at me. I watched as she pulled a roll of duct tape out of the back of the truck and taped her ankles together. She wiggled into the truck, leaving one door open. I could only imagine that she was taping her own mouth and her hands. She was going to pass herself off as another hostage. I was the only one who knew that Stella was the driver. Ranger, the Feds, the cops ... everyone thought that the driver was a man. Oh God! She could take them all by surprise, kill them one by one. Nobody would suspect Stella, the Police Chief's drab little, scared to death secretary. I had to stop her.

I fought against the tape on my hands. I tried to twist and turn them, but couldn't loosen the tape. I looked at the crates around me but there were no nails or sharp edges. I rolled myself over onto my stomach and sort of inchwormed my way over to the edge of the huge crate I was on. Two crates down was the broken cell phone case. If I could get my hands on it, maybe it would be sharp enough to use as a knife to cut through the tape.

I wiggled myself around so that I could slide down feet first. By the time I got myself positioned with my feet over the side and my butt on the edge, sweat was dripping off my face and I couldn't get enough air. But I had no choice though. I could sit up here on my crate mountain and watch Stella kill anyone who walked through that door and then kill me. Or I could at least try.

I slid myself down on my butt to the next crate and then, too exhausted for anything else, just let myself roll down to the next. I landed on my side with a heavy thud that jarred every tooth in my head but I was only a few feet away from that piece of plastic. I worked to sit myself up and shimmied my way back to get close enough to grab the broken phone case, but still couldn't reach it. I had to lean back to get it and I lost my balance, falling flat on back. I grabbed the plastic, but my head and shoulders were so far over the edge of the packing case, that I was in danger of going over backward onto the floor, a good twenty feet down. I dug my heels into the top of that crate to balance myself and hauled the rest of me back onto it, too.

I managed to roll over and sit myself up. I was a mess. My heart was pounding a million miles a minute and with the tape around my head, I could only breathe through my nose. I definitely wasn't getting enough air and I felt faint and nauseous. I couldn't let myself throw up, I'd choke to death on my own vomit and that's definitely not how I wanted to go. I just leaned my head against the crate and tried to get control of myself. All that accomplished was to bump my head in the spot Stella hit me with the padlock. I couldn't help the tears dripping down my face.

Okay Stephanie, get a grip. You can do this. You HAVE to do this. I turned the plastic in my fingers trying to find the sharpest part. I knew I had it when I sliced my finger open on the knifelike edge. I started sawing at the tape but I couldn't tell if it was doing any good. I just kept going. I knew I was slicing up my hands and arms because the plastic slipped every once in awhile and gouged me. If it could cut me, hopefully it was cutting the tape too.

A noise startled me and I turned to look at the warehouse floor. The sun was setting and it was starting to get dark. Still, I could see the big barn door open and a figure in black slithered in on the floor. He looked like a puddle of black. Noiselessly, he snaked behind one of the crates. All was still for a minute when another dark form, Ranger, seemed to appear like a puff of smoke through the doorway, and was gone.

I started sawing viciously at the tape. I knew I was making progress, it was starting to give ever so slightly. I tried to make noise through the tape on my mouth, but I don't think that I could be heard over the river sounds that filtered in from outside. I pounded my feet on top of the container, to no avail. I couldn't make enough noise to attract their attention. I had to get loose before they found Stella, before she could kill them.

I saw the black shapes darting here and there in the gathering dark and one opened the back door of the truck. I saw him lean in, pulling something toward the back and in a second I heard Stella screaming, "Please, no! Please don't hurt me." A hand was clamped over her mouth and only the river noises could be heard. I watched as she was hauled out of the truck and as she clutched onto her rescuer as he cut her loose. I'm sure it was Cal. Don't trust her Cal, my brain screamed to him. Don't turn your back on her. I watched as Cal leaned down to whisper to her. I watched as he straightened and looked into her face. His hand lifting the necklace she wore, he recognized my necklace.

Like a rattlesnake striking, I watched Stella pull her Glock and shove it under Cal's Kevlar vest and pull the trigger twice. He went down immediately. She stuck the gun under her sweater as she screamed and screamed and screamed, backing away from him. The other figure, Ranger, appeared and lifted her from behind and carried her behind the stack of crates where he had been hiding.

I sawed frantically at the tape and pulled my hands apart with everything that was in me. Thank God, the tape broke. I made quick work of cutting the tape on my legs and ripped the tape off my mouth and head. I was just about to scream a warning when I saw Ranger walking slowly to the door, fingers laced behind his head. Stella was behind him, Glock pointed at the back of his head. He closed the door and ran the chain through the hasp.

Stella walked him to the center of the floor and had him stop. "Steeeeph-anie," she called out, "I have your boyfriend here." She let out a giggle, "Your stupid boyfriend. Can you see us? You've been a good little girl and I'm feeling generous. I'll let you die together. I'm sending him up to you." She motioned for Ranger to go to the container mountain and climb.

I was almost to the floor and jumped down the last six feet or so. Stella's focus was on Ranger, she wouldn't be looking for me. As Ranger started his climb, our eyes met and held for a long second. I mouthed 'I love you' to him, and he mouthed 'Be careful" back to me. He showed me the direction I should go with his eyes, and with a nod, I was off.

I slipped behind the containers, all the way to the wall and made my way around behind Stella. Halfway through his climb, Ranger turned back to Stella, and asked her why she was doing this, when she could have just simply walked away. Luckily, she loved the sound of her own voice and gave him the whole story, adding that it was only fair that he knew why we had to die. Nice of her, I thought.

Her gun hand never wavered and Ranger, talking all the while, climbed to the next level. I had no weapon, but figured that all I really needed to do was tackle her. I was almost behind her when I heard a small sound and turned to see a deathly pale Cal on the other side of the warehouse, trying to get up. Thankfully he saw me, and I motioned to him to stay still and be quiet. I could see that his breathing was labored and he laid back and closed his eyes.

I moved up, under cover of the crates and boxes, as close as I could. Ranger turned his head and I caught his eye. With my heart stuttering in my chest, I sprinted across the floor as fast as my legs would carry me. I had enough momentum that I was able to knock Stella off her feet. She screamed as we rolled on the floor and I made a grab for her gun. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ranger jump off the container mountain, looking for all the world like a superhero in flight. He seemed to drop to the floor in slow motion but before he could land, Stella reflexively fired the gun twice and caught him in the chest.

I balled up my fist and hit Stella as hard as I could and grabbed her gun and skated it across the floor. She lay there limp, eyes closed. I wanted to kill the bitch with my bare hands.

I stumbled to my feet and flew to Ranger. He was on his knees, one arm wrapped around his middle and the other supporting himself against a crate. His face was gray and he was gulping in lungs full of air. I slid down on my knees in front of him, ripping at his shirt, dragging it out of his cargoes and putting my fingers through the bullet holes to tear it open. I sobbed as I ran my hands over his Kevlar vest and found the two bullets embedded there. I tore open the velcro straps on the vest and was so relieved to find no wounds that I started to cry. When I ran my hands over him and touched his ribs, he groaned loudly in pain and flinched away from me.

"Help me up." He gasped out the words.

"No, stay here, I need to unlock the door and call for paramedics." I ran across to the door and flung it open as Tank was about to swing an axe against the door. Behind him, in the parking lot, was an ambulance and the EMTs, Red and Lindsay came on the run. They went directly to Cal and I watched as the went about the business of saving his life with efficiency and compassion. Tank stayed with them and I went back to Ranger.

I stood in front of him and bent over, wrapping my arms around his head and shoulders. He put his arms around my hips and held me tightly, pressing a kiss into my belly. He lifted his head and looked up at me with pain glazed eyes. I bent and brought my lips to his. It was the most precious kiss we had ever shared, the kiss we didn't think we'd ever get to share. I kissed his lips and his cheeks, his eyelids and forehead and lastly, his mouth again.

Police cars and a second ambulance came screaming to a stop outside the doors. Carl and Big Dog, Ange and Ida fanned out in the warehouse, guns drawn. Eddie came over to check on Ranger and me and I told him where to find Karvic and about Stella's threats against my family. The first ambulance took off with Cal, Merry Men would meet him at the hospital. Stef and Karen, Paramedics from the second rig, came to check Ranger out. He sat, leaned back against a crate, with his long legs stretched out in front of him. Stef gently cut off his shirt and Karen peeled the Kevlar vest off him. Steph ran her hands over his chest, probing the two bruises that were starting to bloom on his rib cage. After declaring his breath sounds good, Karen advised a trip to the hospital for x-rays since the same rib that was broken when Scrog shot him was involved again.

Big Dog and Carl came into the warehouse escorting a much worse for wear Karvic. He was barely conscious and they dragged him along. Carl glowered at me. "I lost the coin toss," he groused. Big Dog cackled at my confusion. "The 'tuck and zip' coin toss. Remind me to never piss you off." Ida winked and Ange gave me a thumbs up on their way to escort a bloody Karvic to an ambulance..

Ranger took one look at Karvic and started to laugh. I clutched his side and alternately laughed and groaned in pain. "Oh, you never disappoint, Babe." He turned serious, "Are you okay? Do you need to go to the hospital?" I knew what he was asking me, and shook my head no. Ranger closed his eyes, in relief I think, and raised my hand to his lips.

The cops had searched and had found no sign of Stella who obviously made it to the boat in all the confusion. They'd alert the River Patrol to start looking for her, then they packed up and left. The Feds would come tomorrow and go through the warehouse with a fine tooth comb looking for evidence. Tank came in and helped Ranger out to the SUV. I told Tank I wanted to get my leather jacket and dashed across the warehouse to the office. I grabbed the jacket and was walking back through the door to the warehouse when I felt the gun at the base of my skull.

"How nice of you to wait for me, Stephanie," Stella said sweetly. "Don't bother to scream, they're in the SUV and it's running. They won't hear you."

She poked me in the back with the muzzle indicating that I should walk ahead of her. In the back corner of the building was a narrow, rickety stairway. It lead all the way up to a small room that looked like a box with windows, suspended from the roof. It was supposed to be a control room I guess, for the cranes and equipment that had once unloaded ships here. Stella motioned up the stairway. She followed me up and shoved me into the room while she stayed on the landing.

"I told you that if you cooperated you would die painlessly. You should have listened." She slammed the door and I heard metal scrapping. I went to the tiny window that looked out on the landing and saw the metal bar that she had used to wedge the door shut. They windows that overlooked the warehouse were tiny and even if I could break one out, I couldn't have gotten through it. There was no place to go this high up anyway. The only other window was in the outside wall of the warehouse and over looked the river. No way out there, either. Now I knew how birds in cages felt, only I couldn't fly.

I went from window to window but couldn't see Stella. I wondered if she was just going to leave me up here. Ranger and Tank were outside and they'd come in and find me. The horrible thought hit me that she might shoot up, through the floor and kill me that way. I rushed back and forth, looking out the tiny windows, trying to spot her. I went to the door and pulled on the handle, trying to shake the door and maybe dislodge that metal bar. But it was wedged too tightly. I had used up my courage quota today, and I could feel panic curling around my heart, squeezing it. It was dark outside now and only the dim emergency exit lights gave any illumination. I went back and forth from window to window, feeling trapped and a sob escaped me.

Suddenly, I knew. Oh my God! With horrible certainty I knew what her plan was. I could smell the gasoline. I saw movement on the far side of the floor, the flick of a lighter, a flame. Stella was holding it up waving it, for me to see. She tossed the lighter and I watched as the flames raced across the wooden floor, over the crates, to the walls. The building was all wood, old, dry wood. It caught like tinder. I watched as the fire climbed up the walls with incredible speed, danced over the cross pieces, foot after foot, up to the rafters. It crackled and roared like a living thing. Cinders and smoke drifted up past the windows, trapped by the metal roof. Over the sound of the fire I could hear sirens but I knew it was already too late.

Oh God! I didn't want to die like this. I had always been terrified of fire. I had nightmares as a child and had dreams of being trapped by fire, waiting for a superhero to rescue me. And now here is was ... my nightmare was my reality. I flew to the door again and pulled on the handle, beating on the wood. I couldn't cry, I couldn't scream, I couldn't even breath. All I could do was stare out at those merciless flames watching them devour everything in their path. I was hypnotized by the vision of hell below me.

I heard metal scraping and the little room trembled as the door burst open. Stalking through the thick black smoke and the wall of orange flame was my hero, Ranger. I was hallucinating. The fear had driven me over the edge. Good, I thought. Maybe it won't hurt so much. But when my hallucination held out his arms to me, I threw myself into them.

"Why did you come?" I sobbed. "Why didn't you stay where it was safe? There's no way out, Ranger," I looked up into his beautiful brown eyes. "There's no way out."

He cupped my face with his hands the brushed the tears off my cheeks with his thumbs. He gave me a small smile. "Where else would I be? If the roles were reversed, where would you be, Babe?"

The smoke was beginning to fill the room and I could feel the heat of the fire through the floor. This room wouldn't last long. Soon it would collapse onto the warehouse floor so far below and be engulfed in the flames. And the two of us with it.

Ranger quickly surveyed the room. He bent his knees and jumped up, grabbing a pipe that ran close to the ceiling with both hands. He swung himself back and forth, gaining momentum. Raising his feet, he smashed the soles of his boots into the window frame and the whole room shuddered as he did. Once, twice, three times and the window crashed out, leaving a hole in the side of the building. He scooped me up into his arms and lifted me out that hole, putting me down on a narrow catwalk on the outside of the building before climbing out himself.

As he lifted me out, I had a panoramic view of the river, clear across to Pennsylvania. There were fire boats with their water cannons trained on the burning building, spotlights from the boats swept over the walls, coming to rest on us as Ranger climbed out behind me. His feet had just touched down when we heard the floor and walls of the control room crash away, down into the flames below.

The little catwalk we were standing on was barely 18" wide, with no rail and nothing to hold on to. We stood probably 100' above the water and the only way out of here was straight down. I was flattened against the side of the building with my face pressed into the wall. Ranger edged right up next to me and put his hand on my back. He didn't take his eyes from mine and I couldn't have looked away from him for a glimpse of God Himself.

"Babe, you need to turn around and face the river." I just shook my head 'no'. I was beyond rational thought at this point. I was between the two things I feared most in this life, fire and high places.

We could hear the roaring of the flames as they ate through the dried out timbers of the warehouse and the rumble as the walls and parts of the roof collapsed in on themselves. Clouds of burning cinders billowed into the crystal clear night sky. The wall swayed a little and I let out a scream.

"Stephanie," his voice was sharp but his fingers against my cheek were gentle. "Trust me." I was paralyzed with fear and didn't think that I could even nod.

"I'll help you turn around. Close your eyes, Babe. Everything will be fine. I promise." He was yelling to be heard over the sound of the fire. I looked up and could see the swirling smoke and flames against the starry sky.

I squeezed my eyes shut and let him turn me so that I faced out. Tears streamed down my face, for him, for me, for the us we never had the chance to be.

"Open your eyes, Babe. Look at me." I heard the urgency in his voice. The wall shook again, twisting, and my breath caught in my throat as waves of heat washed over us, but I opened my eyes and looked into his beautiful face.

He smiled at me, his eyes filled with love and pride. Above our heads the smoke cleared for a moment and the light from the full moon seemed to make us glow.

We had to yell to be heard over the screams of the old warehouse in it's death throes.

I smiled at him and reached up to touch his face as he tucked a curl behind my ear. "I love you." I put everything I felt for him into those words.

"I love you, Babe."

"Oh, I know."

"Come on Babe," he gave me the full 1000 watt smile. "We're gonna fly."

He held out his hand to me and I put mine into his. He brought it to his lips in a final kiss.

"Heaven or hell, Babe. I'll find you."

And I spread my wings ...

and flew.

_The End_

If you would like an Epilogue, please leave a review and let me know. Ranger and Steph, and all of the other happy players in this story would like to thank all of the sensational readers and reviewers who have been so generous with their comments, for spending the last 61/2 months with us. You are all special people.


	31. Epilogue: Stuffed and Mounted Pt1

Disclaimer: Janet Evanovich owns all of them except the ones that I made up and the real live people.

Warnings: Sexual Situations, Smut, Graphic Sex, Language

A/N: This will be a two part Epilogue. Thank you to all the wonderful readers and reviewers. I appreciate you more that you'll ever know. Thank you to all the wonderful ladies of and PFF for your continued encouragement and support!

As The Worm Turns!

The Epilogue: Stuffed and Mounted! Part 1

"_Ohhhh! This is Heaven." _

I quickly looked around to see if anybody heard me, realizing that I had said that out loud, as if everyone here didn't already know that. Several people smiled back at me indulgently and nodded in agreement, leaving me to look around. I stood at the top of a short flight of marble stairs at the entrance of a huge ballroom. I guessed it was heaven, with clouds swirling around my feet. It wasn't easy to impress this Jersey Girl, but I had to admit, this place was unbelievable. There were candles glowing everywhere and beautiful music played softly, setting the mood. Huge white columns reached up out of sight, sheer white curtains added to the ethereal quality. Crystal chandeliers, suspended as if by magic, gave off soft light, the hundreds of prisms twinkling, reflecting thousands of tiny points of light. High above it all was the clear night sky with its millions of stars.

A young man, dressed all in white, approached me. With a small bow he held out a tray to me, "Your drink, miss." I hadn't ordered a drink, but considering where I was, I shouldn't have been surprised that it had magically appeared. I took the Cosmopolitan from the tray and took a sip. Like everything else here, it was perfect. Smiling my thanks, I watched as the beautiful young man moved away. I swear that he didn't walk, he just sort of glided on top of the clouds.

I became aware of people looking and pointing at me. An elegantly dressed group came over to welcome me, telling me how brave they thought I was and that I deserved to be here. Men asked me to dance and ladies came to say they admired me. I was being treated like I was some kind of celebrity and it was embarrassing to be the center of attention in a place like this. One lovely older lady told me I looked like a Fairy Tale Princess, and I had to admit, I certainly felt like one.

I stayed in one spot and sipped my drink, slowly turning in a circle, making small talk and taking in everything around me. I smiled and nodded but, of course, what I was really doing was waiting for Ranger. He had promised that he'd find me, and he never lied, so I knew that he would be here. All I had to do was wait. Just the thought of being with him again gave me butterflies. The tingle down the back of my neck told me that he was nearby, and brought a smile to my face.

I heard a soft, "Babe." My eyes searched for him, my heart turning over and my breath catching when our eyes finally met. He was down on the ballroom floor and I watched as he moved closer. The woman took the glass from my hands and sighed, "Ohhh, your Prince Charming!" I started down the marble stairs to meet him.

As he strode through the clouds toward me, Ranger wore that same smile of love and pride that had given me the courage to fly with him. Starting up the stairs as I started down, he stopped on the step below me so that we were eye to eye. He never broke eye contact as he took my hand in his, raising my fingers to his lips. My heart fluttered in my chest as he kissed my palm and placed it on his cheek.

Very softly he said, "I told you that I'd find you, Babe," and we just stood, our bodies only a breath from each other, drinking each other in.

His hands barely skimmed up my arms, over my shoulders and neck, and he cupped my face, searching my eyes. Drawing me closer, he kissed me with such exquisite gentleness that it brought tears to my eyes. When he feathered kisses over my forehead and cheeks, and I melted into him, burying my face in his neck and just letting his warmth and strength seep into my body making me feel alive again. It was if I had been held suspended between life and death until I was with him. My heart was full to bursting and I was afraid of my emotions spilling over for all to see, wishing that I could just absorb into him.

"I missed you," he breathed into my hair.

"It felt like an eternity." I said with a shaky breath and his arms tightened around me, holding me to his chest.

"We're together now, Babe."

"For always?" I searched his face.

He smiled into my eyes. "I'll never let you go."

I took a deep breath and finally loosened the death grip I had on him. He held both of my hands and stepped back down the stairs, bringing me with him to the ballroom floor. He let go of one hand and slowly twirled me, looking me up and down. He gave a heated look, full of the promise of things to come. "You're beautiful, Babe. Red is your color."

I was wearing the most perfect dress ever created. The tissue thin silk felt like skin and looked like it had been water colored with every shade of red imaginable. It went from a dark red at the hem, swirling up through blood red into an orange-red at the top. It was a simple style with a shirred bandeau of the water colored silk over my breasts, leaving my arms, shoulders and back bare and giving me fantastic cleavage. The skirt was several layers of silk that draped like the petals of a rose held upside down, the slightly fluted edges overlapping each other down my left leg. The knee high split allowed my leg to show when I walked and gave a glimpse of my red satin FMPs. Scattered heavily along the bottom of the dress and running up the edges of the silk layers, were tiny crystals. When I stood still, the crystals were almost invisible, but when I walked they caught the light and it looked like the bottom of the dress was in flames and I was walking through fire. It seemed very appropriate, considering the circumstances that brought me here.

Ranger turned his head, listening. "Come and dance with me, Babe. They're playing your song." He took my hand and led me out onto the floor where other couples were already moving to the music. I recognized the song, 'Lady in Red'. He pulled me into his arms and we danced cheek to cheek, just like the lyrics of the song. I let my eyes drift closed and I lost myself in him and the music.

_Lady in Red_

_I've never seen you looking so lovely as you did tonight,  
I've never seen you shine so bright,  
I've never seen so many men ask you if you wanted to dance,  
They're looking for a little romance, given half a chance,  
And I have never seen that dress you're wearing,  
Or the highlights in your hair that catch your eyes,  
I have been blind,_

_The lady in red is dancing with me, cheek to cheek,  
There's nobody here, it's just you and me,  
It's where I want to be,  
But I hardly know this beauty by my side,  
I'll never forget the way you look tonight;_

_I've never seen you looking so gorgeous as you did tonight,  
I've never seen you shine so bright, you were amazing,  
I've never seen so many people want to be there by your side,  
And when you turned to me and smiled, it took my breath away,  
And I have never had such a feeling,  
Such a feeling of complete and utter love, as I do tonight,_

_The lady in red is dancing with me, cheek to cheek,  
There's nobody here, it's just you and me,  
It's where I want to be,  
But I hardly know this beauty by my side,  
I'll never forget the way you look tonight  
I never will forget the way you look tonight...  
The lady in red, the lady in red,  
The lady in red, my lady in red._

I had never really met romantic Ranger before. He wrapped my hand in his and held it over his heart as we danced. We swayed to the music, barely moving, content to just be in each other's arms again. I was completely aware of his every breath, every heart beat, of every inch of him touching me. I could happily spend eternity right here, feeling the reassuring beat of his heart under my hand. Tonight, God was in his Heaven and all was right with the world.

I couldn't help but think back to what brought us here. How very lucky we were, how blessed. We were here in Heaven, but we had shared Hell, and we had survived.

_"Come on Babe," He gave me the full 1000 watt smile. "We're gonna fly."_

_He held out his hand to me and I put mine into his. He brought it to his lips in a final kiss._

_"Heaven or hell, Babe. I'll find you." _

_And I spread my wings ... _

_and flew._

The dramatic pictures on the front pages of all the papers the next morning were in living color and looked like some computer generated scene out of an action/adventure movie. The flames raged behind us as we leapt out over the water at the very instant that the whole building had collapsed. We looked like two small crosses against the orange of the fire, the sparks and smoke billowing up into the night sky and reflecting in the water below. We jumped, arms outstretched, feet together, holding hands, our faces turned to each other. Heaven or hell, it didn't matter as long as we were together. The papers dubbed it, "Lover's Leap."

I have no independent memory of hitting the water, just the feeling of flying through the air with Ranger. Everything I know about the rest of the incident came from the news footage that played on just about ever TV station in America for the next week. As the story leaked out, every newspaper, magazine, radio and TV station in the country requested interviews and sound bites. From Good Morning, America to Letterman to Tyra Banks to Regis and Kelly, everybody wanted 'The Lovers'.

I hadn't realized it, but before Ranger and Cal had come into the warehouse in response to Stella's fake phone call, they had checked out every entrance, exit, and possible escape route. By sheer luck, Ranger had come back into the building and looked up at that little control room, and had seen me at the window of my death trap. Otherwise ... Anyway, he called Tank and let him know how we'd be trying to escape.

Tank had called 911 and RangeMan, and the Fire Department, the TPD, and the Paramedics had responded immediately. The fireboats were stationed less that a quarter of a mile down river, so they arrived within minutes, and with them came the Fire Department's River Rescue Squad and the Coast Guard. There were divers and boats in the river below the warehouse before we even got out onto the catwalk and we had practically jumped into their waiting arms.

I lost consciousness when we hit the water, but we both should have been dead. Jumping from that height was like hitting concrete, but for some unexplainable reason we both sliced cleanly through the water. That part of the river is filled with sunken piers, pilings and debris that should have ripped us apart, but we missed all of it. We should have hit the bottom, never to come up again, but it was high tide. Simply put, Ranger and I had shared a miracle.

I woke up in the hospital, not St. Francis this time, but one on the Pennsylvania side of the river. The EMTs from the River Rescue could get us there faster since the hospital was right on the water and instead of transporting us by ambulance, we were taken by boat. The impact had knocked me out cold and I sank like a stone. The divers searched the inky, black water for me, but it was Ranger who found me and brought me to the surface. He refused to let go of me, even while the divers and EMTs were giving me oxygen and making sure that I hadn't inhaled half the river.

It took me awhile to come around. When I did, Ranger was there, issuing orders for my care and security. At Ranger's insistence, a specialist had been called in to make sure that I didn't suffer any lung or brain damage or hypothermia since the water was so cold. Merry Men were stationed outside my door and at every entrance, exit, and elevator throughout the hospital to insure our safety.

The doctors and nurses quickly gave up on trying to get Ranger into a hospital bed. After everything we had been through together, he wasn't about to be relegated to a different room. They finally relented and put his bed in the same room as mine. Of course, when I finally woke up, he was in my bed and I was in his arms, safe, secure, and wrapped in Ranger. We were spooned with his biceps as my pillow and his hand on my shoulder. He had worked his other hand under my hospital gown and his fingers were splayed on my bare stomach, holding me to him. I covered his hands with mine and drifted back to sleep.

The next morning, Ranger was released and I sent him off with Tank to St. Francis to check up on Cal and to arrange for my transfer there. He only left because my parents and Grandma Mazur were visiting me and wanted to give us privacy. Or so he said. Personally, I think it was because the only thing in this life that he really fears is Grandma!

While they were gone, the Feds snuck in and kidnapped me! Okay, not kidnapped. They 'escorted' me out of the hospital, with guns drawn on the Merry Men, and into a waiting ambulance. They took me off to 'somewhere secure' to debrief me about Karvic, Stella Martucci, and the gun running operation. To say that I was upset was an understatement. They told me that if I refused to go willingly, they'd haul me out the front door in my hospital gown, with my ass hanging out and my bride of Frankenstein hair and give every reporter and photographer in the tri-state area a photo op. The bastards! My father was furious, my mother was hysterical, and Grandma tried to pull her Colt .45 on them.

I had no clothes, phone, hair stuff, makeup, ... nothing! I had no idea where I was being taken, since the minute I was put into the ambulance, something was injected into my IV and I was out like a light. I woke up in a strange room with a Federal Agent standing guard at my door. I was basically held in solitary confinement in a private hospital someplace. My one advantage was that these guys had no idea who they were dealing with. Just wait!

When the team of Federal suits came in to 'debrief' me they found a confused and distraught woman. Unfortunately, the shock of the kidnapping and the fire, the leap into the river, coupled with the stress of being hijacked from the hospital and threatened with humiliation if I failed to cooperate, just left me with no memory of anything concerning Karvic or Stella or the gun running. Strange, don't you think? Anyway, several of the 'Team' had to leave before they stroked out. I've never seen so many red faces and popping veins before.

The head of the task force, Special Agent Ethan Samuels, paid me a visit, asking if there was anything that the 'Team' could do to help alleviate my stress. 'Eat shit, and die' came to mind, but I doubted that's what he was alluding to. All things considered, my list of demands was very short: clothes, hair care products, makeup, a cell phone, and Haver Williamson, my lawyer.

I was held for six days in 'protective custody' by the Feds before Haver could arrange my release. By the time I got out of there, I was ready to run for President just so I could have them all fired! The first thing I did as I walked out of that building was to call Ranger to let him know that I was coming home. When he didn't answer, I called RangeMan and Tank told me that Ranger had been summoned to Washington, D.C. to be 'debriefed' by the Feds and was being held 'incommunicado'. Haver put me in the big, black SUV that had shown up to take us back to Trenton, and he went to spring Ranger, which would take another ten days!

It turns out that the Feds were punishing us for interfering with their investigation. Well, Ranger actually, I really didn't know anything about it. It seems that the GPS that Morelli slipped me when I was in the car with Karvic, was from the Feds. They had my location all along, but wouldn't share that information with the TPD or with RangeMan. They were hoping that Karvic would lead them to the huge stash of weapons they knew he had hidden someplace. When Stella made that phone call to RangeMan, pretending to be me, Ranger 'forgot' to tell the Feds that he and Cal and Tank were going in after me. The Feds were NOT happy that RangeMan and the TPD had hijacked their big, news-making bust. They should have just shared in the first place!

I turns out that nobody knows what happened to Stella. No one had seen her escape, but that didn't mean anything. She could easily have slipped away in the chaos of the fire. The remains of the warehouse were still smoldering so the Feds couldn't search for a body, but typically, they chose to assume that she was dead. Even Christie rolled her eyes when she heard that one. RangeMan and the TPD would operate differently, assuming that Stella was still alive, and still plotting revenge. My biggest regret was that I never got my necklace back.

Karvic is in a Federal Prison waiting trial on Federal charges of gun running, organized crime, kidnapping, theft, murder, attempted murder, gang related activities, the list is as long as my arm. After the Feds get through with him, the State of New Jersey is next in line, and after them comes the City of Trenton and way down on the bottom of the list, are the charges I could bring against him. Even if he beats the death penalty, he'll never take a breath of air as a free man ever again. And he'll always be a cop in jail ... not the most popular inmate in the prison. He'll get nothing less than what he deserves.

I killed the time waiting for Ranger to come back to Trenton by moving back into my apartment. As much as I didn't want to, we needed to go back to the real world, to real life, if we were ever gonna find out if we could work as a couple. It was easier to move my stuff out of Ranger's apartment without him there. If he had been, I don't think I could have done it. The danger was really over. If Stella did show up I was confident that I could handle her. I went back to work and to working out with the guys. Yeah, yeah, I know. It's still not my favorite thing to do, but I can't deny the benefits.

I got a call from Alexander Ramos one evening, inviting me to Deal for lunch the next day. He said he needed to speak with me and I admit that my curiosity was peaked, to say the least. Late the next morning, Costas and Stavros showed up in a big black stretch limo to drive me to Deal in comfort. Poverty was SUCH a bore.

We pulled up in front of the house and Alex and Niko came out to greet me. I was pulled in for hugs and kisses from them both like they were greeting a long lost family member.

"Hey Chickie," Alexander said. "Welcome back from the dead." He was referring to my faked murder.

"Mr. Ramos, how nice to see you again." My mother would be so proud of my manners.

"It's Alex, Chickie. Unless you wanna make that Baby or Lover." He gave me a lecherous grin.

I shot a look at Niko, handsome as ever, who smiled indulgently at his uncle and just gave me a little head shake. We went inside and sat in front of the huge windows that looked down over the beach and ocean. Niko and I both refused a drink, but Alexander had his ever present cigar and glass of ouzo.

"So let's talk business before we eat, Chickie. I need some security and I want you and your RangeMan to provide it." He said matter of factly.

I raised my eyebrows in question and surprise. Let me get this straight. Alexander Ramos, the Guns R Us of not only Trenton, but all of New Jersey and most of the East Coast, a mobster with a private army of henchmen, who was surrounded at any one time by at least a dozen armed guards, needed security? Right!

He saw my skepticism and he reached over and patted my knee. "I have a new hobby. I'm collecting objets d'art. Art Objects ... wouldja believe? And I bought 'em all with money from my legitimate businesses. Who woulda thought you could make that much money legally?" He shook his head in disbelief. "I got 'em all in a bank vault in New York. But I wanna show off my stuff. I need somebody to come in and rig up a fool proof security system ... kinda like Mission Impossible stuff. I did my homework. I only deal with the best and RangeMan is the best." He looked at me expectantly.

"Well Mr. Ra ... Alex. It's not my decision who RangeMan writes their contracts with, but I'll certainly tell Ranger when I see him and ask him to get in touch with you personally."

"Good, good. That's all I want." He sat back in his chair and studied me for a minute. "You tell anybody where you got that information from?" He changed in an instant from the kindly uncle into the dangerous mob boss. The transformation was chilling.

I shook my head. "No." I looked him in the eye as my heart clinched in my chest.

"Not even your Ranger?" A small smile played across his face and while his voice was joking, the look in his eyes expressed his true nature. This man had a built-in lie detector and he could see straight through to my soul.

I sat up straighter and tried to look calm. "No, Mr. Ramos. I didn't tell anyone where I was, or who gave me the information. I didn't tell Ranger, or the police, or the Feds or even my mother. No one knows but the three of us. Well, four if you count Stavros since he was in the room."

"You're a brave girl, you know that? You got spunk. I like that." He smiled at me like a benevolent grandpa. "So, you going to that Law Enforcement, Fire and Ice fund raiser thing next week? Everybody that's anybody is gonna be there. At a thousand dollars a person, they should make some good money for their cause. It's for police survivor's benefits this year, I think."

I nodded. "Probably. Ranger and I planned to go. He bought three tables for RangeMan employees and their dates. We were just going to show up and then leave, but the organizers came up with a fund raising idea, and under the circumstances, we couldn't say no. They seem to think that people are gonna pay to have their pictures taken with us. It's embarrassing and I'm hoping that I can just skip it. I can't even afford a dress to wear to something like that. I mean, I think Macy's is expensive, and all the women there are gonna be wearing designer originals!" I gave a little laugh and shook my head.

Alexander signaled to Stavros who nodded and left the dining room. A few minutes later he reappeared with Sophia and Elena, the maids who had been so kind to me. Alexander spoke to them in Greek and the women's faces lit up and they all but ran out of the room. He turned to me with a smile. "All taken care of Chickie Baby." I remembered the closets full of wonderful clothing that had been made for wife Number Five, that she had never even seen, much less worn.

After being assured by Niko that if I didn't take them, the clothes would be sent to Good Will, the dress and shoe bags were put into the trunk of the limo. I still had no idea what Sophia and Elena had chosen for me, and I was kind of like a kid at Christmas, waiting to open the presents. Someday I'll grow up I guess, but I don't see it happening anytime soon! I wasn't disappointed when I got home. The dress for the ball was an original by a well known designer, all the accessories were there and all I had to do was get dressed. I could get used to that kind of lifestyle! After promising to save a dance for both Niko and Alexander, I was home again.

I was surprised at how easily I slipped back into my daily routine. I missed Ranger almost painfully. After spending so much time with him, practically living with him, there was this big hole in my life where he was supposed to be. Haver called me daily to keep me updated, but the Feds wouldn't allow Ranger to make any calls. The picked through Ranger's life and RangeMan with a fine toothed comb, but couldn't find anything to make trouble for him with.

Finally, on the day of the Ball, my phone rang and when I answered I heard Ranger's voice. "Babe." He really didn't need to say anything else. I could read everything that he wanted to say into that one word.

"Are you okay?Did the Feds let you go?When can you come home?I miss you so much!I love you!" The words just spilled out of my mouth. Everything I wanted to say came out as one big jumble and I heard him laugh softly.

"I'm coming back tonight, but I'll be late. I'll meet you at the Ball."

"Are you sure you don't want me to wait for you?" All the Merry Men had dates and I didn't want to be a third wheel. I also hated the idea of going someplace like that by myself.

"I'll find you, Babe. I promise."

"Okay, then. I can't wait."

"I love you, Babe. I can't wait either." His voice was suddenly deep and husky and I knew he wasn't talking about the dance. If I was left with shaky knees just from his voice ... I was in big trouble here. Or maybe he was the one who'd be in trouble when I finally got my hands on him, I thought with a smile.

I was making a peanut butter and olive sandwich and thinking about getting ready when my doorbell rang. I licked the olive juice off my fingers as I answered it. Standing on my Welcome mat, wearing huge smiles were Sophia and Elena, loaded down with bags and cases. As soon as I opened the door they both started talking a mile a minute in Greek and sailed into my apartment. Elena took one look at the sandwich and grimaced. She tossed it in the trash and started unloading a shopping bag filled with all kinds of wonderful smelling foods.

Sophia quickly found the bedroom and bathroom and I heard her start to run the tub. She added bathsalts and an oil and acted out that I should get in and relax while she and Elena were in the kitchen. Well, my mother taught me to be a good hostess and to make my guests happy, so I could hardly argue with them, could I? I got into the tub and soaked until I looked like a prune. I shampooed my hair and had a quick rinse under the shower, when Sophia came to help me out of the tub. She wrapped me in a big fluffy robe that she must have brought with her since I didn't own anything like it.

I was ushered into my dining room, such as it is, to find the table set for lunch for one but I insisted that they join me. We sat and ate Greek salad and huge shrimp, spinach and cheese stuffed pastry, and honey soaked baklava with strong Greek coffee. Over lunch, the three of us talked non-stop, them in Greek and me in English, and we understood each other perfectly. While Sophia cleaned up the kitchen, Elena took me back into the bedroom where a massage table had been set up. By the time she was finished, all I could do was pour myself into my bed for a nap.

Sophia woke me a couple of hours later and proceeded to do my hair and makeup. She wouldn't let me look in the mirror, I guess she wanted me to see the finished product. While I was getting into my undies the doorbell rang and Elena rushed to answer it. She came back and, with a knowing smile, handed me a small package. Inside was Tiffany's signature blue box, and inside of that, was a blue velvet case. My hands shook as I opened the case to find ruby and diamond earrings. A cluster of rubies sat on my earlobe and a large, tear drop shaped diamond dangled below them. They were stunning. The card said simply, 'For my lady, R'. I had to fight the tears that welled up in my eyes.

Finally they were finished and let me look in my floor length mirror. I didn't recognize the woman who looked back at me. Oh, don't get me wrong, I can make myself look pretty good, but this was magic! A calm, serene, sophisticated woman looked back at me. The front and sides of my hair were pulled back to show off the earrings and the red of the dress made my already pale skin look milky white. The dress gave me cleavage and the entire picture was one of ... elegance. I looked like I was capable of taking on the rich and famous who would be at the Ball tonight.

I was thanking the ladies as the doorbell rang again. Sophia opened it to Niko and Alexander Ramos who would escort me to the Ball and keep me company until Ranger arrived. I didn't even want to know how that was arranged but I was too swept away in all this special treatment to ask. Elena put the matching red silk wrap around my shoulders and Sophia handed me a small red beaded bag and I was out the door and being helped into a limo by a smiling Costas and Stavros. Who knew they could smile?

So that's the whole story, folks. Now I'm in Ranger's arms, my cheek pressed to his, moving to the music that filled ballroom. All I really want to do is get out of here and be alone with him. From the looks of things, I'm not the only one who wants to be alone.

Over Ranger's shoulder I could see Christie dancing with Haver. I have a feeling that there's something very serious going on there. They were gazing into one another's eyes and wearing sappy smiles, I'd say it's love. Christie's Grecian style, shirred black silk dress skimmed the floor. The deep V neckline dipped very low in front and to her waist in the back. The dress was crisscrossed with beaded satin ribbon from just below the bust to the waistline, showcasing her outstanding figure. Thigh high side slits allowed a peek of her FMPs. A single tiny strap over her toes held the 4" heeled sandals to her feet. Black satin ribbons that echoed the style of her dress, crisscrossed up her calves, emphasizing the length of her legs. With her hair done up in a mass of curls, she looked for all the world like a Grecian statue come to life, and Haver was mesmerized, he couldn't take his eyes off her. Why do I have the feeling that I know what they're going to be doing later on?

The music ended and the Master of Ceremonies started speaking. Ranger and I went to our table and sat down. He pulled my chair closer to his so he could put his arm around my shoulders. We sat like that while the speeches were made, but the only thing I was aware of was the feel of his fingers running small circles on my arm and his breath close to my face. If I turned my head just a little bit, our lips would have met. Every nerve ending was tingling and when he bent his head a little to whisper that midnight tonight ended our thirty days of celibacy, a delicious shiver raced through me and I know I ruined my panties.

All around the ballroom, the organizers had set up 'photo ops'. Huge blow ups of famous people, basketball players leaping for a basket, football players running for the end zone, politicians at podiums, astronauts in front of the Shuttle blasting off, movie and TV actors on the set, scientists in their labs, and Ranger and me. The backdrop we'd stand in front of was a picture that was taken of the fire from across the river. The huge warehouse was totally engulfed in flames with clouds of smoke and cinders billowing up into the clear night sky. The whole thing was reflected in the river below so that the two tiny figures looked like they were jumping from the flames above, into the flames below.

The photographer called us over for some test shots and then we took pictures with an astonishing number of people, each willing to pay another thousand dollars for that privilege. We all got together for a group shot with Ranger and me front and center. The Man of Mystery was now a very public figure.

The music started again and I danced with Alexander Ramos, Haver, Niko Ramos, Joe Juniak, all the Merry Men except Cal. His energy level wasn't back to normal yet and he was still on sick leave, so I sat one out with him and chatted. I danced with Joe and Eddie and Carl and Big Dog, Uncle Mike and the rest of the police officers and Firemen and EMTs that I knew. Ranger danced with all the ladies, Lula, Connie, Christie, Karen, Lindsay, Lisa, Ida, Red, Lorie, Lisa, Luisa, Elissa, Trish, Tammy, Feather, and Ange. I kept careful watch, I love them all, but don't trust any of them for a second with my man.

The singers had beautiful voices and the music was romantic. It seemed that every song had a message and Ranger and I would search each other out during certain songs, our eyes meeting over our partner's shoulders. 'Open Arms' brought us together from across the dance floor and he whispered that he hated walking into his cold, empty penthouse today, knowing that I wasn't there. One song led into another and we still couldn't let go. But it was the words from 'I want to know what love is, I want you to show me. I want to feel what love is ... ' that made us realize that it was time to leave.

We quickly made our good-byes and Ranger grabbed me by the hand and led me up the marble steps. At the top of the stairs I glanced back to see a sea of smiling faces, all of our friends, happy for us. He put his arm around my waist and we walked out the door together, to the waiting stretch limo.

As the door closed on us, Ranger pulled me to him and onto his lap. He brushed his lips back and forth over mine before settling on them in a gentle kiss. His tongue parted my lips and he thoroughly explored my mouth, our tongues dancing with one another. The kiss seemed endless, each of us angling our heads to deepen it, explore further. The kiss finally broke, and he held me to his chest, his face buried in my hair, mine in his neck. We stayed like that a long time, just reveling in the closeness.

Finally, he lifted me and sat me back on the seat and leaned forward to retrieve a bottle of Cristal and two champagne flutes. He poured the wine and handed me a glass and we toasted each other. When I investigated a little, I found caviar, fruit, petite fours, and all sorts of delectable nibbles. Poverty is SUCH a bore. I realized that we had missed the dinner because so many people wanted to have their pictures taken with us and I was hungry.

We fed each other little bites of everything, but when I took his hand and licked a bit of icing from a petite four off his finger with the tip of my tongue, his eyes turned black and he growled deep in his chest. I gasped as he literally grabbed me and pushed me down on the seat, covering me with his body. His mouth crashed down on mine, demanding and hungry. My hands were in his hair holding his mouth to mine and I writhed under him as his hands explored me. I could feel the champagne bubbles coursing through my veins and all I wanted was to feel him move inside of me.

As quickly as it started, he sat up and pulled me up beside him. He straightened the skirt of my dress and used his thumb to wipe my smeared lipstick before straightening his own clothes. He took a deep breath and blew it out and ran his hands through his hair, pulling out the tie, before leaning his head back on the seat. He seemed to be fighting for control. Finally, he turned his head and looked at me. I know I looked shell-shocked because he reached out and touched my cheek with the tips of his fingers.

"I'm sorry, Babe." His voice sounded ragged and strained.

I think I choked out an 'ah hunh' but I wasn't capable of words at that point. I closed my eyes and leaned sideways against the seat, gulping air, trying to get my breathing under control. What the hell just happened? Did he change his mind? Didn't he want me anymore? Did he ever? All kinds of thoughts ran around in my head. As usual, he read my mind.

He wrapped his hand around my neck, his thumb caressing my jaw. "I want you so much I ache with it." His eyes searched mine and his voice was thick. "I want to bury myself in you right here, right now. I want to feel you move under me and make those little noises that twist in my gut. That's what happened last time. It was all about what I wanted and what I needed. But this time,_ this time_, I want to do it right."

He leaned in and softly kissed my lips. Giving me a 200 watt smile, he said, "Plus which if I make you get out of this car looking like you were just fucked, you'd probably shoot me on the spot."

I dawned on me that we had been in that limo for an awfully long time. The windows were so darkly tinted that I hadn't really paid any attention at all to where we were going. Ranger handed me my tiny clutch and indicated that I might want to do something with my lipstick. I opened my compact and made the necessary repairs, finishing just as the limo glided to a stop.

A few seconds later, a uniformed doorman opened the limo door and took my hand to help me out. I found myself standing under the marquee in front of The Plaza Hotel on 5th Avenue in New York City. As Ranger stepped out of the car, the doorman greeted him.

"Good evening, Mr. Manoso. Welcome back to the Plaza. It's so nice to see you again."

"Thank you, Roberts. It's good to be back. I hope to be spending more time here now." And he smiled at me as he took my hand and led me up the steps.

Roberts held the door open for us and gave me a small bow and touched his cap as I entered. I tried very hard to keep my composure, that means I didn't let my jaw hit the floor and walk around gaping like a hick. After all, Ranger was bringing me into his world and I didn't want to embarrass him. I tried to act like this was an everyday occurrence. I had been to the Plaza before. My Mom and Grandma Mazur used to being Val and me here for lunch every year when we were little and came to New York to shop for our Easter dresses. I think I was 10 the last time I was here.

As we walked in the Manager and the Concierge came out to greet us. Ranger told them that anytime Ms. Plum was in New York, I would be using the suite and that I may or may not have the time to call ahead to have it readied. Before we left, we would provide a list of the things that I would require the Plaza to stock for me, just in case I dropped in. My head was spinning and I had a feeling that there was a whole lot more to Ranger than I realized.

We walked under the huge crystal chandelier and over to the gilded elevators where a bellman waited to take us up to the suite. I was afraid to look at Ranger for fear I would burst into giggles. I felt like Cinderella. Sophia told me that the dress I was wearing cost more that $50,000. I was wearing diamond and ruby earrings from Tiffany's, no less, and now I was being ushered into a suite in a castle. It was a fairy tale and tomorrow I would wake up in my little apartment. Hell, Rex with his deluxe HabiTrail had a better home than I did. None of that had ever bothered me before, but now, I was seriously out of my league. I'd have to talk to Ranger about all this ... just not tonight. I had other plans for tonight.

The suite was breathtaking. High ceilings with ornate carved moldings and wainscoting. Crystal chandeliers and luxurious fabrics done in gold and blue. The living room had a fireplace that was lit and a table set for two in front of it. Another bellman appeared with our bags ... matching Louis Vuitton luggage that I didn't know I owned, much less remembered packing. I looked at Ranger who just smiled at me. He was obviously having fun.

A maid showed up, kind of just materialized, and asked if Madam wanted to change. I had no idea who she was talking about until Ranger said that it wasn't necessary. She unpacked an overnight bag and turned down the bed for us and left. I was still walking around in stunned silence. I wandered through the bedroom with it's king-size bed that had at least a dozen pillows on it, into the block paneled, masculine office with it's leather furniture and mahogany desk. The bathroom was something out of every woman's dream ... all marble, spa tub, steam shower with 10 shower heads, and heated towels.

Ranger followed me, leaning against the doorways as I looked around. I felt like I shouldn't touch anything, like somebody would appear and scold me if I did. I knew how Julia Roberts' character felt in 'Pretty Woman.' Not the hooker part, but the being seriously out of your element part. I looked out the window at Central Park, below. Ranger came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, leaning his chin on my shoulder.

"So, does Madam approve?" I could hear the smile in his voice.

I had to clear me throat before I answered so my voice wouldn't squeak. "Oh yes! Madame approves."

"Come on, Babe. Supper's here. If I'm hungry, I know that you must be starving." He turned me away from the window and marched me into the living room to the table. He took my purse and wrap, that I still hadn't put down and tossed them both onto the couch, then seated me at the table. When we were both sitting, a waiter appeared with a cart and served us an endive salad with toasted walnuts, pears, and blue cheese, dressed with a vinaigrette. For Ranger's sake I tried it and was amazed to find that it was delicious. Next came omelettes stuffed with ham and herb cheese with a cream sauce and for dessert, fruit for Ranger and divine chocolate mousse laced with orange liquor for me. We washed it all down with Champagne.

Music played softly and we sat on the couch while the waiter cleared away the table and left. Once he was gone, Ranger stood and held his hand out to me. He turned out the lights and we danced in the livingroom by the light of the fire place. "Te quiero, mi amor." His voice was barely a whisper, as if he was afraid to break the spell.

"Te amo," was my answer. I ran soft, wet kisses up his throat, pressing my tongue into his skin, tasting him, under his jaw and chin, to his mouth. He let me have control and I fisted my hands in his silky hair and angled my head to deepen the kiss, my tongue demanding entrance into his mouth. It started out gently, our tongues sliding over each other, tangling and searching, but quickly turned hungry, greedy. When I sucked his tongue into my mouth and grazed it with my teeth, he bent his knees slightly and lifted me around the hips, carrying me into the bedroom, never breaking the kiss.

He put me down in front of the huge mirror that hung over the dresser and turned me so we could watch our reflections in the flickering firelight. Ranger placed a trail of kisses from my temple to that small hollow below my ear that drives me wild. He kissed the spot, then touched it with the tip of his tongue and the jolt that shot through my body almost buckled my knees. He had pulled my hair aside and his mouth was working it's way down my neck to my shoulder. Heat was pooling in my belly and my breathing was ragged. I would come the moment he touched me.

I took a step away from him and moved behind him, running my hands up over his shoulders to the collar of his tux jacket. I lifted the collar and Ranger let me slide the jacket off of his shoulders and down his arms. Carefully, I folded it and placed it over the back of a chair that sat in front of the bedroom window. I stepped back behind him and looked at him in the mirror from behind his shoulder. I put my arms around him from behind and reached up to untie his bowtie, leaving it hanging around his neck.

One at a time, I slowly took the studs out of his dress shirt, working my way down his chest to his waistband. I put each stud in his trouser pocket, each time letting my hand come closer to him. I put the final two studs, from the French cuffs, into his pockets at the same time. Running my hands deep into those pockets and over to him, I felt him quiver and his abdominal muscles automatically contract.

"You could kill a man, Babe." He groaned.

I slowly removed my hands from his pockets, and still watching him in the mirror, ran my hand inside his open shirt and up his chest, scraping my nails lightly over a nipple and then pinching it gently and twisting it. I did the same thing to his other nipple and I could feel the shudder that coursed through him. I pulled his shirt off his shoulders and he pulled his arms out, yanking the shirt out of his pants and throwing it aside. I laid open mouthed kissed across his shoulders and down his spine, and reached around to unbutton his pants.

As I ran my nails over his back, I grazed my teeth across his muscles. When I reached his shoulder, I caught his eyes in the mirror as I sank my teeth into the corded muscle at the side of his neck and laved it with my tongue. Up until now he had just stood and let me explore and taste his body, but now, his nipples were pebbled and his muscles were so contracted that they trembled. He was losing his grip on his precious control and when I sucked the flesh on his neck into my mouth, the sound he made wasn't human.

He pulled me in front of him and fisted a handful of hair, pulling my head back. His eyes were glittering black, and his breathing was ragged and open mouthed. He settled his mouth on mine and plundered it with his tongue, holding me so tightly I couldn't catch my breath. His hands found the back of my dress and I felt the tiny buttons pop open and the zipper slide down. The dress whispered to the floor and I stood in a puddle of red silk.

I wore only a tiny scrap of lace that masqueraded as panties and my FMPs. He looked down at me, like he could devour me. I shivered under his eyes despite the heat that radiated off of his body. He lifted my arms around his neck and his mouth claimed mine again. He drank me in like water to a man dying of thirst and I gave him everything I had in me. His hands ran down my back, massaging my cheeks, and lower to the back of my thighs, then up over my hips and waist, over my ribs to cup my breasts and knead them.

He lifted me and placed me on the bed, and stood, looking down at me. He raised one of my feet and placed it against his chest, untying the shoe and slipping it off my foot. He kissed the arch of my foot, then the inside of my ankle and calf, the inside of my knee. I watched him through half closed eyes, desire coiling like a snake in me. By the time he had done the same to my other leg I was trembling uncontrollably. He quickly removed his own shoes and socks and knelt at the foot of the bed. Slowly, he crawled up and over me, and I could see his heavy length straining for release through his pants. I reached for him but he caught my hands and pressed them into the mattress on either side of my head.

He settled himself between my thighs, and feathered my face with kisses. He ran his mouth along my jaw and down my neck to the hollow at the base of my throat. He laved it with his tongue and I know he could feel my pulse racing there. His mouth went lower to my collarbones and the swell of my breasts, and lower still. He ran his lips back and forth over my nipple, then took one between his lips and sipped. My back arched off the bed and a small scream escaped me as lightening shot through my veins. By the time he did the same to my other nipple I was sobbing with need.

He kissed his way from one breast to the other, kneading, sucking, nipping, driving me crazy. I was writhing under him, whimpering and trembling, close to frantic as he kissed his way to my belly, french kissing my navel and grazing my hip bones with his teeth. All the while he murmured in Spanish, "Quiero enloquecerte ... he nuzzled me through my panties ... hacerte gritar mi nombre cuando pierdes todo control ... his hot mouth on the inside of my thighs ...hacerte venir como no lo ha podido hacer otro ... The lace was gone and his talented tongue was caressing me as he slid a long, warm finger into me, then a second. My hands fisted in his hair, holding to me as he alternately licked and sucked until I exploded, sobbing, "Carlos ... Carlos ... Carlos ... "

He stayed with me while I came down from an orgasm that seemed to last forever, then started again, building me up slowly, as I coiled tighter and tighter, he would pull back when he knew I was close. I looked down the length of my body at him and watched as his slid his fingers out and replaced them with his tongue. He eyes drifted closed and he gave a groan the vibrated through my whole body and I arched off the bed as pleasure that bordered on pain washed over me, his name on my lips again.

He kissed the inside of my thighs and moved down off of the bed to strip his pants off. He stood in all his glory, the light from the fire playing over his muscles, his eyes heavy and hooded with lust. All I could think was that this magnificent animal was mine. This time when I reached for him, he didn't stop me and let me stroke him and massage him as he knelt over me. He groaned so deep in his chest it sounded like a growl and a shudder ran through him before he removed my hands.

He lay over me and looked into my eyes, kissing me gently on the mouth and cheeks, forehead and eyelids. His tongue ran hypnotic circles on my collarbones and I spread my legs and bent my knees, planting my feet flat on the bed, inviting him in. With his face next to mine, nuzzling my hair, he slipped a hand between my legs, and groaned, "Estoy que exploto do lo mojada que estas." Slowly, gently, he slid into me, an inch at a time until he filled me.

"Carlos, please, I need you." I begged and tried to move against him.

"No mi vida, slowly, I don't want to hurt you." He stilled inside of me to let me adjust to his size, the effort obvious in the corded muscles of his neck and his clinched jaw. His arms were under my back and his fingers curled over my shoulders, biting into my skin with the effort to hold still.

I couldn't stand it any longer, I had waited so long for this. I rocked my hips against him and he moved with me, slowly at first, searching my face. When he only saw joy and pleasure he moved faster, harder, pulling almost all the way out before ramming home again. I met every thrust and wrapped my legs around his hips trying to draw him deeper into me. I felt like I was winding tighter and tighter, higher and higher. I couldn't get enough of him. I moved my legs higher up his back and he groaned at the change in position. Lost in his own pleasure, his eyes closed, he pounded into me and when he slid his hand between us, stroking me, I shattered into a million pieces, sinking me teeth into his shoulder to keep from screaming.

Seconds later, his breath caught in his chest and he pulled out one final time and slammed back into me as his own orgasm overtook him. He raised up on his hands and threw his head back and roared my name as my body milked his. He collapsed onto me, his face next to mine, both of us spent and struggling for air. My legs slid down off of his back and I lay slack limbed. Ranger raised his head, and still panting, kissed my face. When I was finally able to drag my eyes open, I know I had tears in them.

He kissed my eyelids and brushed my damp hair off my face, "Al fin eres mia, mi amor."

I smiled as I looked into his face and he smiled as he nuzzled me. I couldn't help myself, I was so happy that laughter bubbled up in me and spilled out. Joyous, effervescent, jubilant laughter that rang off the walls and ceiling of that room. He joined me in the laughter. We lay, with him still buried in me, in each other's arms and just laughed with joy. We spent the rest of that night making each other laugh, over and over and over again.

TBC . . . .

If you want more smut, please leave a review. I think they need to go to someplace exotic and run around like Adam and Eve, don't you? The second half of the Epilogue: Stuffed and Mounted will be posted next Tuesday, featuring guest contributors with their take on Ranger and Steph ... lots of smut, folks!.

Te quiero, mi amor . . . I want you, my love.

Te amo . . . I love you.

Quiero enloquecerte . . . I want to drive you crazy.

Hacerte gritar mi nombre cuando peirdes todo control . . . Make you scream when you lose control

Hacerte venir como no lo ha podido hacer otro . . . Make you cum like no one else has before

Estoy que exploto de lo mojada que estas . . . You're so wet, I'm ready to explode

Mi vida . . . my life

Al fin es mia, mi amor . . . You're finally mine, my love.


	32. Epilogue: Stuffed and Mounted Pt 2

Disclaimer: Ranger and Steph belong to Janet, damnit! In this chapter, everyone else belongs to me.

Warnings: Graphic Smut, Semi-Smut, Smut-Lite, and Smut.

A/N: To all of the wonderful ladies who have been my friends, editors, betas, supporters, hand-holders, ass kickers, drinking buddies, brain-stormers, or have just shared a laugh or a chat, thanks for the support and encouragement. I couldn't have done it without you. You rock!

Thank you Karen and Christie for editing this chapter as well as providing all of the above.

Alas, there is no Roratoa, Les Fleurs, or pearl as described. Blame it on literary license. However, the sun does set behind Moorea and the world, indeed, becomes golden.

As The Worm Turns!

Epilogue: Part 2- More Stuffed and Mounted

I didn't think that it was possible to want someone as much as I wanted him. Not just in the physical sense, but emotionally as well.

We had made love over and over that night. Slow, sweet, romantic love, exploring each other's bodies, finding those secret places that made us gasp, or shiver, or moan. We touched and tasted and licked and stroked each other until we were quivering masses of sated flesh.

Yet no matter how much we gave and took, it seemed that in minutes we were both hungry again. All the while, he whispered to me, words of love and desire, how he had fantasized about me, about us together. He made my heart swell and brought tears to my eyes.

I was lying on top of Ranger, my legs between his, my head on his chest. Ranger was propped up on the pillows against the headboard, one hand behind his head, the other running circles between my shoulder blades. My chin rested on my hands and we had just come down from a mutual orgasm that probably was heard in the lobby and registered on Richter Scales worldwide. And this time, Ranger made more noise than I did. I was pretty sure that, now, everybody in the hotel knew my name.

"I think that you have officially been removed from the re-virginized list." Ranger looked at me with a smile in his eyes as he ran a finger playfully down my nose and over my lips.

"I guess I'm back among the ranks of wanton women, thanks to you. But I don't think I'm going to be able to walk ever again." I rubbed my face against his chest planting kisses here and there.

Ranger's eyes crinkled up in a smile and he reached down with both hands to haul me farther up his body. He sifted his hands through my hair, pushing it back from my face and drawing me in for a kiss. It was slow and languid and spoke of two people who had taken the initial edge off their hunger for each other. As we kissed, his hands slid down my back and he gripped my cheeks, kneading them.

"Christ, I love your ass, Babe." He murmured as he kissed a trail from my mouth to my ear.

"Yeah, well don't get any ideas. I'm still not doing any of that butt stuff, ya know." I said rather breathlessly, as he nibbled my earlobe.

"So you say now." He laughed as he wrapped his arms around me and flipped us over so that he was on top of me and I squealed in surprise. He raised himself up on his forearms and gave me an evil grin, waggling his eye brows and licking his lips. He kissed me hard and fast on the mouth, once, then again.

Bracing himself over me, he quickly ran his magic mouth over my chin and down my throat, swirling his tongue in the small hollow at the base, then moving lower, scraping his teeth over my collarbone and licking the swell of my breast.

He was making those silly 'nummy' noises that I make when I eat something wonderful and I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. He brushed his lips over my nipple then sucked the bottom of my breast and nipped his way down over my ribs.

He knew he was tickling me and he was having a wonderful time torturing me as he moved down my body. When I tried to grab his hair to pull him away, he snagged my wrists and tucked my hands under my butt.

Trapped, I had to submit to his teasing, but I squealed and squirmed and tried to escape as he French kissed my navel and sucked on the skin over my hip bones. When he slowly nuzzled my curls, planting kisses and little licks on my mound and sucked the tender skin where my leg joined my torso, I stopped wiggling. I was suddenly breathless and moaned when he blew the hot breath from the back of his throat on me.

Ranger massaged the front of my thighs with his big, warm hands, working his thumbs closer and closer to the Promised Land. He spread my legs and placed hot, open mouthed kisses on the inside of my thighs that had me trembling in a matter of seconds. I lifted my hips off the bed as he nuzzled me, trying to get him closer to where I needed him to be.

Before I knew what was happening, Ranger had me turned over onto my stomach and had pulled me up onto my hands and knees. He leaned over me, running his hands up into my hair and kissing the nape of my neck until my head fell forward, my hair cascading down to the bed. He rained kisses and nips and sucks on my neck and shoulders, then started his sweet assault down my back.

"Oh Dios Mio, tu cuerpo me vuelve loco," he groaned into my back as his kisses became more passionate and his movements more frantic.

Reaching around me, he palmed my breasts, holding their weight and kneading them firmly. He plucked at my nipples, twisting and rolling them until I was ready to scream. Working his way down my back, he massaged the backs of my thighs and my ass, kissing and licking and nipping my cheeks.

I could feel his hot breath against my skin, open mouthed and ragged. "Voy a borrar todo los otro hombres de tu memoria." I knew he was going to ruin me for all other men.

"Carlos," I gasped, as he pulled me over to the edge of the bed, "I told you I don't like the bu ... Oh God, Carlos ..." I almost screamed. I had never felt anything like that before. Lightening shot through my veins and my body was instantly on fire. He slid onto his knees at the foot of the bed and had spread my lips and had run his tongue over the length of me. The tip of his tongue danced around my clit as he slipped first one and then a second talented finger into me. I was trembling so hard that my arms wouldn't support me any longer and I sank down to my elbows as the sensations washed over me.

My hands fisted the bedding and I heard a low keening sound that got louder with every stroke of his tongue. By the time he started to suck gently on my clit, I was frantically clawing at the sheets, begging for release, panting and making noises that no longer sounded human. It barely registered that those guttural noises were coming from my throat. When he finally took pity on me and increased the pressure and speed of his sweet torture, I came screaming his name as an orgasm like I had never experienced before exploded over me.

I think I must have passed out for a few seconds from the intensity of it all, because when I came back to myself again, he was draped over me, his arms wrapped around me and his face next to mine. He was rocking me gently and whispered to me but I have no idea if it was in English or Spanish, my brain couldn't absorb his words. The aftershocks from the orgasm still wracked me and I continued to tremble in his arms.

He waited only a minute before he used his fingertips to turn my face to his and took my mouth in a scorching kiss. I could feel his heart hammering against my back and his rock hard erection against my thigh. He kissed the back of my neck and shoulders with an increasing wildness. I had never seen his control slip so far.

I moved back a little and rubbed my butt up against him. He stilled and I felt the shudder that ran through his body as he growled, deep in his chest. I moved against him again, a little harder this time, sending him the message that I wanted him in me. He ran his hands up and down my body, stroking my back, my breasts, my belly as he slowly entered me, an almost painful groan escaping him.

I whimpered at how large he felt in this position and I arched my back, throwing my head back onto his shoulder. He was so deep, I swear he touched the bottom of my heart. He started to move in me, slowly at first, pulling almost all the way out before he slid back in to the hilt. My head dropped forward at the sensation and I looked at our hands. His hands were on top of mine and with our fingers curled together, our joined hands looked like the paws of a jungle cat.

I could feel the heat curl in my belly yet again as I moved against him, harder and faster. I met every thrust and he could tell that I was close to coming. He rose up on his knees and reached a hand around to stroke me in time with his thrusts. He pinched my clit between his thumb and forefinger and I came sobbing his name. My arms gave out and I lay my face on the bed as I gasped at the exquisite agony he could make me feel.

Carlos grabbed my hips almost painfully as he pulled me against him with every thrust as he pounded into me. He curled over me and groaned Spanish in my ear; if he cursed me or blessed me, I'll never know. Pulling almost all the way out, he stilled a moment before he slammed back into me one last time. He sank his teeth into my shoulder as his orgasm overtook him. My still pulsing muscles milked his body and we collapsed onto the mattress in a tangle of arms and legs.

Wrapped in his arms, we rode out the aftermath of our earth shattering ogasms. This had been less like lovemaking and more like mating. He rained butterfly kisses over the side of my face and neck and shoulder as he stroked me, whispering words of love in my ear. "Te amo, mi vida, mi alma. Te amo." Finally, when the tremors subsided, he pulled the comforter over us, and with him still buried in me, we slept.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Gentle fingers caressed my cheeks and ran over my mouth. Soft lips touched mine and the tip of a tongue ran across my bottom lip. "Wake up, Babe. It's after noon."

I dragged myself up through the layers of exhausted sleep and turned in the direction of his voice. I could only manage a satisfied, "Emmm," and I snuggled into him. I heard his soft chuckle and felt his fingers brushing the hair out of my face.

"Come on Babe, you have time for a shower while I order lunch. What do you want to eat?" He nuzzled my ear and throat.

I slit my eyes open, looking up at him. "You," I said as I reached for him, pulling him on top of me. He was wearing one of the Plaza robes and his hair was wet. Damn! I had been looking forward to a shower with him.

"I love it when you're naughty!" He gave me a resounding kiss. "But, much as I would love to be your lunch, I have a conference call to take in about 5 minutes. I have just enough time to order, so what would you like?"

I sighed. "So, the bloom is off the rose already. Not even a whole 24 hours in and you're already leaving me for work." I sulked. I was actually a little hurt about the call. "You're telling me you couldn't handle this when we got back to Trenton?"

"I'm sorry Babe, but this is important and it can't wait that long."

"Right. Whatever you decide for lunch will be fine." My ravenous hunger had disappeared. I turned away from him and sat up. Every muscle in my body screamed in protest as I hauled myself off the bed and tried to stretch. My body felt like I had been tossed around by the WWF All-Stars and I actually staggered a little as my legs refused to support me. Ranger immediately wrapped his arms around me and held me while I got my sea legs.

"I'm okay," I assured him, and walked slowly into the bathroom and closed the door behind me. I turned on the shower and moved to the sink to brush my teeth as the water heated. I almost screamed when I took a look at myself. I seemed to be covered with bruises and bites and hickeys. I silently thanked heaven that it was fall and I wouldn't be wearing anything sleeveless or revealing for a while.

I turned on the jets and let the hot water pound my aching muscles while I stretched and tried to work out the knots. I shampooed and conditioned, reluctantly turning off the water and grabbing a heated towel off the bar. I could get very used to this lavish lifestyle. The only thing missing was my own personal body slave, and I seriously hoped that Ranger would volunteer for that position. I put on one of the big fluffy robes that the Plaza provided and walked back into the bedroom.

I immediately saw that the bed had been made and the room straightened. My gown and Ranger's tuxedo had been hung in the closet. My shoes and evening bag were neatly on a shelf. I'd die of embarrassment if I ever ran into the maid who changed those sheets. I'm sure she knew exactly what we had been doing all night.

I felt Ranger walk up behind me and wrap one arm around my waist and pull the towel off my head and toss it aside with his other hand. We were standing in front of the mirror again and I watched his reflection as he closed his eyes and gently rubbed his face against mine, a small smile on his lips. His features were relaxed, the lines around his eyes smoothed. He looked younger somehow, contented and happy. He looked sated. I had to smile because I did too.

He raised his hands and ran them through my damp hair and tipped my head back onto his shoulder so he could kiss me, long and slow and sweet. I turned in his arms so that I could wrap mine around him. I just laid my head on his shoulder and reveled in the togetherness. I decided that sulking was childish and that I should focus on every minute we spent together, not the ones we didn't.

I heard the clink of silverware and Ranger smiled into my eyes. "Lunch, Babe. Are you hungry?" He took me by the hand and led me into the living room, to the table that was again set up in front of the fireplace. The waiter didn't seem to think there was anything odd about two people in robes sitting at the table and with a flourish, he removed the silver domes from our lunch. Ranger thanked him and asked him to come back to clean up after we left. The waiter gave a nod and a small bow, silently left, closing the door behind him.

Grilled salmon on baby field greens, wild rice salad, and marinated asparagus were so beautifully arranged on the plate that it looked like a work of art and I almost felt bad eating it. Almost. Tiny little rolls, hot and already buttered, made me moan with pleasure. I caught myself licking the butter off my fingers. When I realized that Ranger was watching me, his eyes black pools, fixed on my mouth, I licked the butter off my lips with the tip of my tongue.

He gave his head a little shake, clearing it. We finished our lunch by feeding each other strawberries, mine with brandied Romanoff sauce, and making small talk about the amazing suite and service.

I was surprised when I found out that the suite didn't belong to RangeMan, but to Ranger personally. I looked around the living room. This was the perfect place to impress someone, especially a woman. It certainly had impressed me. Suddenly, and for some unknown reason, every insecurity I ever owned was looking me in the face. I had the feeling that there was a lot I needed to find out about this private man. One question immediately came to mind. I cleared my throat, afraid to ask, but I needed to know the answer.

"Can I ... ask you ... something?" I could hear the hesitation in my own voice and I threw a quick glance at Ranger.

He could tell that this was something serious. He put down his coffee cup and folded his arms on the table, leaning slightly toward me. "You can ask me anything. You know that I may not be able to answer every question, but you can ask."

I was busy neatly pleating the linen napkin in my lap, a very important job, so I didn't look at him. I just took a deep breath and said, "Have you ever ... you know," I shrugged in false nonchalance, "brought another woman here?" I waved my hand around the suite.

He was quiet for so long I was beginning to think I had my answer. I don't know why it bothered me so much. It wasn't like he was a virgin before he met me. Hell, he had been married, for crying out loud. He wasn't held in suspended animation waiting for me to come along. After all, I reaped the benefits of all his experience and that was certainly not something that I would ever complain about. I wasn't exactly inexperienced myself ... so okay, I didn't have the range of experience he had, but I was pretty sure that he could venture a pretty good guess about the number of guys I had been with in my life and I wasn't even sure that I could even find the ballpark he was in with the number of women, it was just that ... Oh my God! I was mentally babbling to myself!

I was still staring at the floor when I realized that his bare feet were standing next to my chair. He reached down and gently lifted me out of the chair, pulling me against his chest. Using his fingers he tipped my chin up until my eyes met his. His expression was serious as he studied my face before he spoke.

"I bought this suite shortly after I met you. I remember thinking, 'Will Stephanie like it?' but I don't know why. You were with Morelli and seemed to be happy. I guess I loved you then and didn't even know it," he said with a small smile of realization. "I stay here when I have business in New York City. But you are the first and only woman I will ever bring here. I want this to be our place, Babe, a special place so that we can run away from the world when we need to."

I buried my face in his neck. "I'm such a dope," I said into the collar of his robe.

"Yeah, but you're my dope," he replied with a laugh. "Are you through with your lunch? Do you want more dessert?"

I looked into his eyes, "Only if it's you." I whispered. Ranger grazed a kiss across my lips and down my throat and between my breasts. I let out a small squeal as he lifted me up over his shoulder, carried me into the bedroom and tossed me onto the bed.

He quickly shed his robe and crawled up the bed toward me on all fours. I scuttled back to the headboard and squeaked when he grabbed my ankle and hauled me back down under him. Pulling my robe open, he fell on me, growling and fake biting my neck and shoulder. Almost immediately, it turned into kisses, and when I wrapped my legs around his hips, all thought of play was forgotten.

We spent the next couple of hours being each other's dessert, then took a mutually satisfying shower together. It occurred to me that I had no clothes other than the gown I had worn last night, but as I walked back into the bedroom, the bed was again made and clothing was laid out on it.

Ranger had walked into the closet and from there he told me that Ella had done some shopping for me and he hoped I liked what she had selected.

Everything had been laundered, so it was soft and wearable. There were beautiful satin undies and a black knit slacks and jacket outfit, paired with an off white, long sleeved wrap sweater, probably silk. Comfy shoes with a 2 inch chunk heel sat on the floor.

I wasn't surprised that everything fit perfectly. I finished dressing, and sat in front of the bathroom mirror while I dried my hair and fixed it into a soft and sexy French braid. I knotted the tail of the braid at the nape of my neck, hiding the most obvious hickey. I finished off my makeup, light and natural, and took a look at myself in the floor-length mirror. Damn! I cleaned up good.

Ranger leaned in the doorway and gave me a low wolf whistle. He was dressed in black dress slacks and shoes and a cashmere sweater and looked positively edible. I whistled back at him. He laughed and said that if we kept it up, we'd never get out of there.

"So where are we going anyway?" I stood in front of the dresser adding the gold earrings and necklace that Ella had sent with the clothes.

"The limo's waiting to take us to the airport."

I was surprised. "We're FLYING back to Trenton?" I mean, by the time we got to the airport and went through security and boarded a plane, we could already be back at home if we drove.

"Not yet."

"What do you mean, 'not yet'?"

"You'll just have to patient and find out."

"Okay buster," I grabbed him by the front of his sweater, and in my best 'Tony Soprano' voice, said, "Whair ya takin' me, hanh? I got frens I can cawl, famly ... wit a capitl 'F'. Ya bettah ansah if ya no what's good faw ya." I could barely keep a straight face just saying it.

This earned me a 200 watt-er and a kiss on the tip of my nose. "Remember when I told you to decide where you wanted to go on vacation? I said anywhere you wanted? Well, you didn't decide, so I did. Now you're just going to have to wait and see."

"Will you tell me if I guess?" I whined.

"You won't guess."

Ohhhh, a challenge! "Miami?" "No." "Boston?" "No." "Maine." "No, get your purse, Babe, the limo's waiting." "New Orleans?" "No." "Las Vegas?" "No?" "Los Angeles?" "No." "Honolulu?" "No." "Cabo?" "No." "Mazatlan?" "No. Babe, the hotel needs you to fill out this form. List the things you want them to stock for you." "Okay. Acapulco?" "No." "Cancun?" "No. Babe, pay attention to the form." "Puerto Rico? I am! I can multi-task." "No." "Bermuda? Yes I can!" "No. I meant 'No' to Puerto Rico." "Oh, okay. The Bahamas?" "No." "The Virgin Islands?" "No." We both looked at one another and laughed about the virgin part. "Jamaica?" "No." "The Caymans?" "No." "Aruba?" "No. Thank you Roberts. We'll see you on the way back." "Oh. Thank YOU, Mister Manoso." "Rio de Janero? How much did you tip him?" "No. A hundred." "Barbados? Wow!" "No." "Trinidad?" "No." "Martinique?" "No." "Antigua?" "No." "Cuba???" "No." "I'm not wearing you down, am I?" "No."

I rolled my eyes and sighed. Ranger just chuckled and kissed my hand. I was amusing him again. I slouched in my seat and folded my arms over my chest, sulking. Hey, wait a minute! I turned to him.

"Well, it can't be anyplace outside the United States, I know that much."

"And you know that how?"

"_I_ don't have a passport!" Ha! Points for me! I sat back in my seat, pretty satisfied with myself and looked out my window at New York City passing by.

A small leather case landed in my lap, tossed no doubt, by Ranger. I gave him a suspicious look, and opened it. There was my picture, my name, my address, my signature ... my passport.

"Okay, so you proved you have friends in high places. I give up. What's it gonna take for you to spill the beans about where we're going?"

He hauled me out of my seat and into his lap, wrapping his muscled arms around my neck and rubbing his face against mine. "Well, Babe, let me think about that. Maybe you could have the Porsche detailed? Or maybe you could give me a _full _body massage, the kind with the happy ending? Or maybe," his voice got thick and his eye morphed into those black pools, "we could have a replay of last night. "You know, the part where you were screaming, 'Oh My God! Carlos!'?"

I had my hands on his chest when I realized that Ranger had something in the inside breast pocket of his jacket. I leaned in to kiss him and slipped my hand into the pocket and eased out the TICKETS! I slid off his lap and flung myself to the other side of the seat as I opened the folder. He just sat grinning at me as I read. It took several seconds for it to sink in ... Tahiti. He was taking me to Tahiti. Tears welled up in my eyes and spilled down my cheeks.

"You're taking me to Tahiti? My dream vacation? I can't believe that you're taking me to Tahiti." I crawled across this seat and straddled him, cupping his face in my hands and kissing the daylights out of him. We spent the rest of the ride to the airport with me showing Ranger just how excited I was that he was taking me to Tahiti. He may not have gotten the full body massage, but he certainly did get the happy ending.

Getting VIP treatment at the airport is a wonderful thing. We were escorted through security, our bags were checked, and we were boarded into the first class section of our plane in nothing flat. The plane taxied out and we were on our way, nonstop to Tahiti. The two first class cabin flight attendants were struck dumb when they saw Ranger. They practically fell all over him, despite the fact that he always had his arm around my waist or held my hand. He kept cutting his eyes to me to gauge my reaction. I actually snorted into my champagne when one of the women got so flustered after he smiled at her that she called him Master Minoso.

I decided I loved first class. Who knew that they had beds on flights like this? Ranger and I had a light supper and another glass of champagne, then he asked the flight attendant to get a bed ready for us and we snuggled together. I fell asleep to the hypnotic sensations of his fingers running up and down my arm. When I opened my eyes again, we were over the Pacific. Twelve hours after boarding the Air Tahiti Nui plane, we were standing in the Faa'a International Airport waiting for our commuter plane to take us on the ten minute flight to Moorea. Twelve hours from New York to Paradise.

Ranger had explained that RangeMan had designed and installed an elaborate security system for a well known New York art gallery. The system had prevented a robbery that would have cost the gallery, not only business, but its reputation. The Gallery owner had a private island in French Polynesia and had offered it to Ranger for his use at any time. Ranger had called the owner, and here we were.

Jean Claude, the caretaker of the island of Roratoa, met us at the airport and took us out to the estate by boat. The island had originally belonged to the French owner of a pineapple plantation who lived with his family on the far side of Moorea. The estate on Roratoa, Les Fleurs, was where his mistress, who was the love of his life, and their children lived. Two hundred years later, and lovers were still using the estate.

I stepped out of the boat into another world. Roratoa was much larger than I had expected it to be. It was like the top of a lush green mountain floating in an aquamarine ocean. Palm trees dotted the white sandy beach. Here and there up the mountainside were masses of red and pink, orange and yellow flowers. It was all too perfect to be real.

Jean Claude led the way to the 'Les Fleurs'. We crossed the beach to wide, shallow stairs hewn into the side of the mountain. Masses of flowers banked the sides of the steps and the soft aroma of vanilla filled the air, Mother Earth's natural air freshener. At the top of the steps was a natural plateau and a house out of another time and place. The pink, two story villa was a marriage of two cultures. It had wide porches that wrapped around both stories with French doors that opened out onto them. Huge hanging baskets of multicolored cascading flowers and potted palms and ferns against the soft pink of the stuccoed walls gave it a lush, tropical feel. The house was topped by a thatched roof and the whole picture was shaded by ancient palm trees.

We were led through the double front doors into the cool interior of the house. The floors were a rich dark wood, polished by centuries of hard work to a high glossy shine. The beautiful curved staircase, with a hand carved newel post topped with a delicate pineapple, swept up to the second floor. I stood in one spot and turned to look around me. Through every set of doors was a vista, filled with jewel colors. It was a feast for the eyes and the soul.

Jean Claude escorted us up the staircase to our room which was located at the front of the house. Louvered French doors opened onto the upper porch which had spectacular views of the ocean. The dark hardwood floor was covered with a large Oriental rug in cream and tourquoise and rose. An enormous four poster bed, a pineapple carved into each post, dominated the room. It was made up with white linens and draped with masses of white netting that puddled on the floor. A dozen turquoise satin throw pillows adorned the bed. Bedside tables topped with beautiful lamps sat on either side. An armoir held a television and stereo system. A large mirrored dresser, a pair of comfortable chairs and a small table completed the furnishings.

The bathroom had all the modern amenities with a touch of the past. A huge glassed-in steam shower and pedestal sinks, big fluffy towels and robes were cutting edge modern conveniences. The huge old fashioned ball and claw foot tub was large enough for two people and the hand-held shower brought all sorts of wonderful possibilities to mind.

I walked out onto the porch and straight into Ranger's open arms. I laid my head on his shoulder and squeezed my arms around him. "Thank you," I whispered. "This is everything I every dreamed it would be. More, in fact, because I get to share it with you." I looked up into his smiling eyes and kissed him

We stood with our arms around each other just looking at the view. Jean Claude discreetly cleared his throat to get our attention. He introduced us to Lily, our maid. She was young, and beautiful, with long black hair that reached past her waist. Wearing a floral sarong that stopped a few inches above her bare feet, and a crown of tropical flowers in her hair, she looked like she had stepped right out of James Michener's book,'Tales of the South Pacific.'

Jean Claude told us that we should treat the house and grounds like our own. Except for meal times, no one would be at the house or on this side of Roratoa except us. We could walk the beaches, sun bathe, swim, whatever we wanted to do, in complete privacy. Ranger gave me his wolf grin, but there was no way I was running around in the nude. He could play Adam and go au naturel, but this Eve wanted her fig leaves!

When I checked to see what Ella had packed for me, I was astounded to find the tiniest little black bikini that I had ever seen. If I hadn't had a Brazilian wax, I would never have been able to wear it. It came with a little wrap that tied around the waist and barely covered my butt. The top was two little triangles of fabric held together by a thread, and when I showed it to Ranger, his suggestion was that I should just go topless. Some help he was!

I finally just put the thing on. After all, Ranger had already seen me naked and hadn't run screaming, and nobody else would see me, so what the hell? Ranger dressed in surfer shorts that hung on his hips and made me want to jump him. The man just always looked delectable.

We walked the beach that afternoon, hand in hand, at the water's edge. We swam in the warm water and collected seashells. We watched tropical fish in the shallows, he picked a red hibiscus flower and put it over my ear, telling me that the side he put it on meant that I was spoken for. We shared long, slow kisses and lay in the sand, watching the sunset behind Moorea. As the sun slipped into the water, behind the island, the whole world turned golden. The clouds that crowned the mountain peaks, the beaches, the ocean, it was magic.

There was something special to our love making that night. Something different that I couldn't define. We didn't just join our bodies or our hearts. I think our souls met and mingled that night. He had tasted every inch of me before he lowered his weight onto me. I was on fire and only he could put out those flames. He slid into my body with such sweet gentleness, he treated me as if I were made out of the most precious crystal. We moved slowly through the dance, savoring every sensation, every touch, building slowly, pushing each other higher. When we couldn't take any more we exploded in pleasure, calling each other's names. Afterwards, he gathered me in his arms, his face buried in my hair, and I heard him whisper as he fell asleep, "Te quiero, Stef. Te quiero."

Our days were filled with sand and surf. We snorkled and went scuba diving, swam with the dolphins, and even tried parasailing. We explored our island and took trips to Bora Bora, Moorea, and Tahiti. We found private little pools and waterfalls, wonderful vistas from the tops of the cliffs.

Our nights were filled with an insatiable passion for each other. We had a hunger that was never satisfied and a thirst that was never quenched. We were Adam and Eve in our own private Garden of Eden.

I decided that we needed to get souvenirs for the folks at home so one morning Jean Claude took us over to Moorea in the boat and we caught the commuter plane to Tahiti. We shopped the stores and picked up something special for each of the kids and men, but both of us needed to find something special for our female friends and relatives.

Ranger had an idea and we searched out the pearl shops. These islands produce some of the most beautiful cultured pearls in the world. We found bracelets for the girls and necklaces for the ladies, but both of us wanted something really special for our mothers. We hunted from shop to shop until we found a little store that sold black pearls. We knew we had found what we were looking for and made our choices. Ranger wouldn't let me pay for the necklace for my Mom. It cost more than all the other gifts put together and he knew that it would put a significant dent in my bank balance.

While we waited for the gifts to be wrapped, we browsed from case to case. In a display case, sitting on a sea of aquamarine velvet was a lone pearl on a heavy gold chain that had no clasp. It was the most exquisite thing I had ever seen. Ranger called the saleslady over and asked about it. She excused herself and went into the back, and an elderly gentleman came out to speak with us. He spoke with a beautiful French accent, and introduced himself as Monsieur Hubert de Balliel, the owner of the shop and the pearl. He removed the pearl from the case and placed it on a display stand.

"You have impeccable taste," he said with a smile. "This pearl is one of a kind. Only one like this is found every hundred years or so. It cannot be cultured, it is natural. It is the pearl of the legend, you know." He smiled at the pearl with pride, as if it were a favorite child.

Ranger and I looked at each other and smiled, the man's delight in the pearl was so obvious.

I had to ask. "I'm afraid that we haven't heard the legend. Would you tell us?"

"With pleasure, my dear." He ushered us into the chairs that sat in front of the display case.

"Legend has it that when the Gods first raised these islands out of the sea, back when the Earth was new, there was a young couple who defied their fate and fell in love. He was a son of the ruling family, dark skinned and royal. He was destined to be king of these islands. She was from a family who had been brought here as slaves, her skin was pale as the moon. They each had roles that they were expected to fulfill by society. He to be King, to rule alone, to put his people above all else, but to never know love. She, to marry whom her family chose, to be the perfect wife and mother. Their love was forbidden by both family and tradition."

"They planned to leave the islands together, to live the lives they wanted for themselves. But their plan was discovered and both families searched for them, to tear them away from each other." He shook his head sadly. "They had hidden on the mountain and had eluded the searchers. When it seemed that they might escape, it was decided that it would be better for the couple to be dead, than to dishonor their families and tradition. A fire was set that raced up the mountain and trapped the lovers on the top of the cliffs over the water. They stood on the edge and he took her hand in his, and as the people watched, they leapt. The Gods took pity on them, and as they jumped, they vanished."

"No one knew what had happened to them. Some thought they had been turned into birds and had flown away. Some thought that they had been taken to live among the Gods. Some thought that they lived in the sea." He picked up the pearl from the display stand and rolled it in his palm. "Soon after the fire, a pearl diver below the cliff found a pearl unlike any that had been seen before. Word of the pearl spread through the islands and the people came to realize that the Gods valued love and honored the lovers. The pearl of legend was unique. It was impossible to tell if it was a white pearl with the black tracing through it, or if it was a black pearl that held the white stream that wound its way around the perfect orb. Just like this one. Either way, it reflected the way that couple felt about one another, that they were the two parts of the whole."

Ranger and I looked at each other in amazement. The fire, the leap, flying ... he wrapped his hand around mine, his dark skin, my light skin. We looked at each other and smiled. We were like the lovers, but we had lived.

Laden down with our shopping bags, and basking in the warmth of the Legend of the Lovers, we went back to Roratoa, to our own private paradise. Ranger had some phone calls to make so I went down to the beach. I walked for a couple of hours and sat on the sand, watching the waves. We only had a few more days before we had to return to real life. The thought of going back to my apartment alone, sleeping alone every night, not waking up in his arms, not seeing him across the table from me, or sharing the shower or even a closet, made me want to cry.

It was more than just the togetherness we shared here. It was the openness, the laughter, the closeness that we had here that I would miss. If we could move on from here, it would be wonderful. But if we lost this, I would die inside. I was so deep in these sad thoughts that I never realized that he was behind me until he sat down in the sand.

"Deep thoughts, Babe?" He pulled me between his legs and back against his chest.

"Nothing important." I was glad he couldn't see my face.

"Liar." He whispered into my hair.

I sighed. "I guess I'm afraid of what will happen when we go back. This has all been a fantasy, a dream. But it isn't real, it's make believe, it's like living in a fairy tale. I'm afraid of what real life will do to us."

"Don't be afraid of it, Babe. We've taken everything that real life has thrown at us, and we've survived." He tightened his arms around me and rested his chin on my shoulder. We sat and watched the magic of the changing colors as the sun slipped behind Moorea. The whole world started to glow and we were golden.

Ranger kissed me below my ear and sat back a little. Slowly, he slipped the heavy gold chain around my neck. The chain that had no beginning and no end. Suspended from it was the pearl. Our pearl, the smooth little orb that swirled together the dark and the light, like cream in coffee. It did represent us, not just our skin tones, but the whole journey we had taken together. It told the story of everything we had been through. The darkness and the light, the good and bad, the joy and pain, the laughter, the tears, the fear, the doubt, the love ... all of it, all mixed together. This pearl was the story of us.

We were unique. We were one of a kind.

We were each a half, neither one of us complete. Later, as we made love, our bodies fitting together so perfectly that there was no doubt that we had been made for each other, the two of us joined together as one.

We were the dark and the light, the two halves of the whole ... just like the pearl.

_**The End**_

Oh Dios Mio! Tu cuerpo me vuelve loco: Oh my God! Your body drives me crazy.

Voy a borrar todo los otro hombres de tu memoria: I'm going to make you forget every other man you've ever had.

Te quiero: I want you. I love you.

Te amo, mi vida, mi alma: I love you, my life, my soul.

A/N: How do I say 'Thank You' to all of you wonderful readers who have taken the time to read and review As The Worm Turns!? Those two words seem so inadequate. You have given this story over 900 reviews and have come along on this crazy ride with me for seven months. I want each and every one of you to know how much I appreciate you. You have supported and encouraged me every step of the way, and I wish that I could return the favor. I hope that I can continue to entertain you and earn your support with the new story, The Name Of The Game. The Prologue will be posted on February 13, 2007, I hope you enjoy it.

Stayce

A/N: As a special gift to all of the loyal readers of As The Worm Turns!, several guest writers have contributed their view of what life will be like for Ranger and Stephanie. I'm sure that you'll enjoy their contributions as much as I have. Lots of smut and wonderful fun. This special gift from a fabulous group of sensational writers will be posted next Tuesday.


	33. Fish Tales!

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Janet Evanovich, and are used only for the fun and amusement of both reader and writer.

Warnings: Smut, Sex, Bondage, Language, Keep out of the Hands of Children!

A/N: A special Thank You to all the wonderful, talented, generous, gifted, funny, amazing, fabulous, brilliant, incredible, phenomenal, remarkable, terrific, and sensational ladies of PFF and FF who contributed to the success of ATWT! and to this chapter ... There are no words to expres my gratitude, Stayce

**As The Worm Turns!**

**Fish Tales!**

Stephanie and Ranger are tucked into bed on the island of Roratoa. Their friends have sent these stories to amuse, entertain, and perhaps inspire them. These stories are the visions of these wonderful writers. This is how they see Ranger and Steph after the end of ATWT! in their Happily Ever After. I know that you'll enjoy these stories as much as I have.

**Karen's Story: Akasha **

When I woke up, my legs were tangled up with Ranger's. This is how I'd want to wake up for the rest of my life. He was still asleep, the lines around his eyes soft now, and I took my time studying him. He was so beautiful. I knew that if I told him to his face, he'd scoff and tell me that I was beautiful or something else to change the topic. He did not take compliments well. Batman had a flaw after all, I thought on a smile.

I decided to take advantage of the fact that he wasn't awake yet and pulled the covers back, carefully detangling my legs from his. I exposed first his chest and then the rest of his perfect body slowly as I slid down between his legs.

I smiled when I saw some parts of him were already fully awake.

As soon as my lips touched Mr. Happy, Ranger moaned in his sleep. I put a hand around the base and let my tongue glide up the whole length.

When Ranger gasped, I knew he'd woken up, although he was probably still trying to figure out what was happening.

His hands came up to bury themselves in my hair as I closed my mouth over the tip of his fully erect manhood.

This was the first time I'd woken him this way, and I hoped he'd take it as a promise of things to come.

After all, this was the beginning of the rest of our lives.

**Lorie's Story: Mypupmonster**

Steph's POV

We stepped off of the catwalk and flew through the air. Ranger never let go of my hand as we soared out over the river. Instead, he pulled me against him and flipped over so his back hit the water first. By taking the brunt of the impact, he saved my life. When we hit the water, we were pulled apart and I started to sink. I kicked for the surface and started to look around. I saw Ranger floating about ten feet down river. The fire boat was headed our way and I started toward Ranger. As I reached him, I reached out and touched his shoulder. My arm was wrapped in a tight grip and I was thrust under the water again. I fought my way back to the surface. When I broke it again, I was staring into Ranger's dark eyes. It was like he was looking right through me. He shook his head slightly.

"I guess this is Heaven." I said

"Babe." He said as he gave me a full 1000 watts.

The fire department boat picked that moment to pull up along side of us. I was unceremoniously plucked from the river by two strong hands under my armpits. Another set of hands helped Ranger into the boat. We were wrapped in blankets and the boat angled towards the shore.

Ranger wrapped his arm around me and pulled me in close, kissing my temple.

"Babe, Marry me."

My eyes whipped up to his. "Ranger?"

"Marry me, Babe. Let's make everyday a day in heaven."

"Yes Ranger, let's."

One Week Later

I can't believe it. One week ago I thought I was going to die. Ranger and I had stepped off of a catwalk on the warehouse along the river in Trenton. We flew through the air and Ranger saved my life when we landed in the river. Today I was dying.

Ranger's POV

I couldn't believe it. The words were out of my mouth before I realized what I was saying.

"Marry me, Babe. Let's make everyday a day in heaven."

"Yes Ranger, let's."

Is that what I really wanted? To get married again? It didn't work the first time, what makes me think it will work this time? Because she's my 'Babe', that's what's going to make it work this time. I realize now, she is the light of my life. She is the reason I get up in the mornings and look forward to my days. Just wondering what she is going to be up to and if she will need my help makes me look forward to seeing her, seeing what kind of trouble she can get into.

"I want this as soon as possible, Babe. We'll fly to Vegas tonight."

"Yes Ranger."

One Week Later

I can't believe it. One week ago, my Babe and I were flying through the air off of a catwalk in Trenton. I expected not to live. I did everything within my power to make sure my Babe survived. We both made it and I asked her to marry me. We headed to Vegas that evening and we were married that night with Tank, Bobby and Lester in attendance. We spent the night making love and reaffirming life.

My Babe was a beautiful bride. She almost fainted when she saw the beautiful, white, Vera Wang gown I had sent to the suite for her to wear. The flowers were nowhere near as perfect as she was but were beautiful none the less. I had to close her mouth when she got a look at the Merry Men and me in our tuxes. Tank did the honors and gave Stephanie away and then joined me to act as my best man. I asked Stephanie if she was disapointed that we didn't think to bring MaryLou or someone else to stand up for her but, she said everyone who should be there had been there.

The next morning, we headed to a private island for a long, romantic honeymoon. We had been on the island for a week swimming, loving, laughing, loving, snorkeling and loving.

I was lying in our bed when I heard my Babe scream, "Ranger! I'm dying!

Of course, I knew she wasn't really dying. I knew, because I was currently using my tongue and teeth on her clit, sending her flying into a doomsday orgasm she would never forget. I felt her shudders start to subside and looked up into her amazing blue eyes and said, "Welcome to Heaven, Babe."

**Ida's Story: Silent Me**

It was dark outside when we finally made it to bed. I didn't even bother with getting undressed before I threw myself on the bed. But for some reason Ranger didn't like that and started pulling my clothes off, his movements were soft and gentle but persistent. I pulled myself up on my elbows and glared at him.

"Come on, I just wanna sleep." I whined.

"You'll be more comfortable if you take your clothes off babe."

"I've slept in my clothes before. It didn't bother me then." I said stubbornly.

"Humor me, will you?"

"Fine." I grumbled. "But I better get some credit for it later."

"Credit?" His eyes sparkled a little when he gazed at me and I knew exactly what he was thinking. And I could tell he knew I knew.

"For being cooperative. Duh!" I explained and blushed a little as I spoke.

"Whatever you say Steph."

When he saw that I sat up and actually started taking the clothes off myself, he started doing the same with his. If it hadn't been for the fact that I was so tired, I would probably have found the entire scene arousing. As it was I yawned repeatedly. I felt dead tired. And it was obvious that Ranger felt the same as well.

It couldn't have taken more than a couple of minutes before I finally crawled under the cover and put my head on the pillow, but to me it felt like forever. Seconds later I felt Ranger getting into the bed next to me, spooning me.

"I wish we could stay like this forever." I sighed in contempt as Ranger pulled me closer to him and his arms around me tightened.

"In bed?" I could hear the laughter in his voice as he nibbled my ear. "I think we might miss food a little if we do."

"You know what I mean!"

For a while we stayed silent. I let the warmth in the bed lull me slowly to sleep, but then suddenly a thought hit me, making me ignore the need of sleep for a little longer.

"Do you think we'll still be in love when we're old and grey?" I turned around in his embrace and met his gaze.

"Yeah, I do." He answered softly.

"Why?"

"Because I can't imagine not being in love with you."

His words made a warmth spread inside of me, making me all soft. In that moment I felt filled with love. With happiness. He was the man for me. I just knew it, I could feel it. And I couldn't help but smile then.

"You still think we'd be good in bed?" I grinned cheekily at him.

"Oh yeah, definitely babe." He chuckled as he leaned closer to kiss me but I pulled back a little.

"You'll love me even if I get grey hair and everything?"

"I'll always love you, warts and all.

He kissed me then and I lost myself in the kiss. When the kiss ended I laid back down on the bed and rested my head on his chest, I could hear his heart beat softly underneath my ear and I felt sleep calling out to me.

"I love you." I mumbled as I closed my eyes to sleep.

"I love you too." I felt him place a soft kiss on my hair. "Go to sleep, we can talk more in the morning."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

A minute later I was fast asleep in his arms, feeling more peaceful than I'd felt in a long time. The danger was over. He as alive, and so was I. For the moment that was all I needed. Because I knew everything would be okay now.

**Lisa's Story: Lisababe**

Everything we were to one another was conveyed in every kiss, every touch, and every sigh of pleasure. It was as if we had waited for this moment all of our lives. I wanted to hold on to her and never let her go, never allow her to know a moment of danger again, but danger was her sustenance.

I touched every curve of her body making a reality what I had dreamed in my mind repeatedly. This moment was real and I had to make it count, because I wanted to make her feel as no other man ever had. She moaned my name in pleasure and it made my heart swell with pride, for it was me that she desired and none other. Everywhere she touched me my body caught fire, and I felt the heat all the way to my core. What I ever did right to deserve her was a mystery, but I was as thankful as a man could possibly be.

I looked at her face as her eyes slowly opened. I laced my fingers through hers and pulled her hands up over her head as I settled between her thighs. Her eyes fluttered closed, as our bodies became one.

"Babe open your eyes and look at me."

She did as I asked and I became almost lost in the midnight blue of her passion-filled eyes.

"This is forever."

She sighed.

"Yes, forever."

**Lisa's Story: Burggirl**

He lay in bed beside her, propped up on his side. His leg carelessly flung across her legs. She, on her back,sleeping peacefully next to him. He wanted so badly to wake her and show her again, just how much he loved her, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. She was so beautiful and tranquil, sleeping as though no demon could touch her, as if nothing in this world could hurt her. He brushed his fingers across her cheek and tucked a curl behind her ear. He let his hand remain, cupping her face. He couldn't remember a time in his life that he felt this complete.

He thought again to the moment after they had jumped from the burning building into the water. They had become separated for the first few moments. He knew in the recesses of his heart that he would find Steph in the darkness of the water - come heaven or hell. It seemed as though he searched for her for hours, hands out stretched, not knowing if he was swimming towards the surface or swimming to their doom. Suddenly, though there was no light...he could see...he heard no sound - not even his own heart beat. But he felt emotions...all of them running through him, calming him and exciting him, willing him, drawing him, leading him to a place, to his soul. He knew she was there. He knew she was breathing, every breath she took he felt as his own breath, He felt her heart beat as if it beat so that he may live. As he felt this, he knew all he had to do was reach out and touch her. When he did...

Just then Stephanie stirred. He still had his hand on the side of her face. he gently caressed her. She opened her eyes and smiled contentedly. She looked into his eyes and a range of emotions passed in them.

He took her hand in his and kissed it, still looking at her. "You are so beautiful."

Steph tried to sit up but Ranger gently pushed her back down.

"Babe," he said,"just let me look at you."

She reached up her hand and brushed his hair from in front of his eyes and snuggled closer to this man she loved.

Still touching him she pleaded "Ranger, I need to ask you something, what were you thinking," she said then as if chastising him "coming into the warehouse risking your life, not even knowing if I was alive?"

He leaned into her and placed a kiss on her nose. As he leaned back, a smile played across his lips.

"I thinking that, if you were going to fly - I wanted to be the one to fly with you."

**Lindsay's Story: Polysgirl**

"Where are we going? It's the middle of the night!" I demanded, as Ranger tugged me out of the elevator and towards the car. We had been relaxing in bed when he suddenly got that gleam in his eye that I was beginning to realize really didn't mean good things. He had shoved me out of my bed and into my clothes, and then prodded me down to the elevator. It was, literally, two in the morning.

And Ranger never said a word. As he lifted me into the passenger side of the Turbo, I heaved a sigh. "Ranger..."

"Babe. Trust me."

"Oh. I do. I'd still rather know what the hell is going on." I said, crabbily.

"Babe," Ranger said, his eyes amused. That was the last thing I saw before he snaked his hands out and tied a black cloth around my eyes.

"Hey!" I yelled. I moved my hands to the back of my head, feeling for the knot, only to have Ranger's hands clamp onto my wrists like a vise, pulling them away.

"Humor me." He told me, placing my hands in my lap. I wiggled my fingers and thought about trying to get back to the blindfold and get rid of it again as Ranger put the car into gear. "Babe," he said, his voice laced with a hint of warning, "I'll cuff you."

Huh. My hands stilled in my lap and I rested my head back against the seat. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

"Not fair. I want to know where we're going. I don't need to be kidnapped!" I huffed. "Jeez. It's not like I wouldn't go anywhere with you."

"Good to know, babe, but the blindfold stays." I could hear the amusement in his voice. I gritted my teeth, but didn't say anything for a while.

"I want to know where we're going." I grumbled later.

"I'll draw you a map." Ranger told me.

"A map. Gee. Thanks. And what am I supposed to do with that? I can't read it with THIS on." I whined, tugging at the blindfold with one finger. Ranger grabbed my wrist and set my hand back in my lap.

"You can read it when I take it off."

"And when's that going to be?"

"Eventually," Ranger said, and that was the end of the conversation.

We continued to drive in silence for what felt like hours, Ranger in his zone. I thought about the past few weeks, and everything that had happened after the warehouse collapsed and we were pulled out of the river. I was grateful that Karvic and Stella were out of our lives, we were now moving on. At the moment, life was actually pretty dull. And that was a good thing. I liked dull, it meant safe. It wasn't… boring, per say, life with Ranger could never be boring; but it was definitely nice, and I could certainly use dull to define the lack of people looking to murder either of us, and the continuing life of my car. Yes, dull was definitely good. Dull with a healthy dash of Ranger-sex. A very healthy dose. Or maybe that was un-healthy... like, ever waking moment he wasn't working, or driving me places blindfolded, un-healthy. Eventually, I managed to doze off, and I was barely awake when he took a turn and drove down a winding road before pulling the car to an easy stop. I reached back for the blindfold.

"Leave it." he told me softly, taking my hands again. His lips touched the tops of my fingers, and then he touched his tongue to them, squeezed my hands, and released me.

"How am I supposed to get out of the car?" I asked.

"Leave it to me," he said.

Ranger came over to my side of the car and opened the door. He reached over me, unbuckled the seatbelt, and scooped me out of the car. And then he carried me.

He set me on my feet long enough to open a door, lead me in, and close it. He picked me up again and I asked, "Can't I take this off now?"

"Later," he said. I sighed and rested my head on his shoulder as he carried me up a flight of stairs. The next thing I knew he was laying me down on a bed.

"Now?" I asked, as I felt him sit down beside me. He didn't answer, but I heard a thunk, and then another, as he removed his boots. His hands trailed down my legs and he slipped my sneakers off, and my socks. He cupped each foot in his hands, rubbing circles on the balls, making me squirm out of ticklishness.

"Later." he repeated finally, as he shifted, leaned over me, and kissed me. His tongue traced my lips before slipping between them, into my mouth. He trailed butterfly kisses, feather soft, over my forehead, nose, cheek, and jaw, before moving down my neck and gently biting the hollow between my neck, shoulder, and collarbone. He was leaning back, sitting me up, and pulling my shirt over my head. I reached out blindly and found the hem of his shirt, sliding my hands underneath and up his stomach, to splay them across his chest. His skin shivered as I touched him. Then, he was pulling his shirt off, and lowering himself back over me, kissing me again. He slowly kissed his way down my body, and before I knew it we were both naked, and pressed intimately against each other.

Ranger brought his hands up to my face, caressing each cheek with a finger as he kissed me. I was lost in the sensation. Being blindfolded heightened my sense of feel, or maybe it was just Ranger doing it, but every touch, every kiss was intensified, and I was so sensitive to his every caress that I didn't know if I'd survive. Without ever breaking the kiss, as his tongue slowly loved every inch of my mouth, he shifted his hips ever so slightly and seated himself inside me. And then he stopped.

"Ranger," I moaned, squirming against him.

"Carlos," he whispered against my lips.

"Carlos." I repeated, and he began to move. And I was lost in sensations more intense than I ever thought possible. Then, just as I was about to come apart in his arms, he stopped. Again.

"Ranger… Carlos," I gasped. I tried to force him to move, to continue.

"It's time, babe," he whispered, and in the dim light of approaching dawn, our ragged breathing the only sound, he moved his hands to my face and slipped the blindfold off. I found myself staring into his eyes, dark as night with a shining star in the centre of each.

"I love you." I whispered, my own hand coming up to cradle his cheek. He shifted his head down and kissed me as he began to move again, bringing me soaring to a whole new height.

I woke up alone in the bed, tangled in blankets. The sun shone brightly through a skylight and I glanced at a clock by the bed, shocked to see it was past noon. I rolled onto my back and stretched, languishing in the comfort of the bed. And then I looked around. The entire room was log walls and wood, even the bed was finely crafted out of cherry wood. It was a big, spacious, open room. Wow. This was a safe house? I glanced around. Two pictures hung on the wall. Both of them were of Ranger and me. Maybe this wasn't a safe house, I thought. Maybe...

_Omigod! _

I sat up and really looked around this time, at the wooden walls, the dark red wooden furniture. Just a bed and a dresser, it was fairly stark, but yet beautiful. I slid out of bed and scrounged around on the floor for my clothes. Hardwood flooring, I noticed. I stuffed myself into clothes but didn't bother trying to find my bra and panties, surely Ranger would be taking it all off again soon anyhow, right?

I headed out the doorway... which wasn't really a doorway, rather, just a stairway down. I raised an eyebrow at that, as I stepped onto the first stair. The bat-bedroom was a loft. Cool.

I took a good look downstairs. Ah, the bathroom was there, also all wood, except the fixtures of course. In fact, the entire house was one big, open floor plan, built entirely out of log walls, log roof, and hardwood flooring. All of the furniture was the same dark cherry wood as the bedroom furniture. Wow. There was a fireplace on one wall, and a television on another. It was cozy, comfortable, and spacious. Not stark, but not cluttered either. And it was definitely Ranger. I noticed the absolute silence. No traffic, no city noise. Just Ranger's breathing, as he watched me from the island in the kitchen, a cup of coffee and bagel in hand.

"Morning," I said.

"Afternoon," he raised an eyebrow, the corners of his mouth curving up slightly.

"Your fault, batman. You kept me up all night." I said. At that, he laughed, putting everything down and coming over to me. He pulled me into his arms and kissed me. When he finally broke the kiss we were a tangle of legs, my hands fisted so tightly in his shirt I didn't think I'd be able to let go. He uncurled my fingers and kissed each finger tip before stepping back.

"Babe."

"Nice house. I suppose I was blindfolded because you don't want me to know how to get here, huh?"

"Your home too, babe." I started to smile at that, it had a nice ring to it. Then I narrowed my eyes.

"Where's my map?"

Ranger reached behind him and grabbed a piece of paper lying on the counter. The pen that was on top of it rolled off of the counter and across the floor. I unfolded it and looked at it.

"It's blank?" I questioned. "I thought it was a map?"

"It is."

"It's blank!" I glared at him. I looked down at the pen, where it had rolled under the table. I crawled down and grabbed it. "Invisible ink?!" I stalked over to him and poked him in the chest. Ranger was grinning like the Cheshire cat."How am I supposed to read this? I'll have to borrow some eight year old's black light!"

"All you have to do is stay awake on the way home." Ranger pointed out. That stopped me for a minute.

"Do we have to go right away?"

"No."

"Good." I said. "I like this place."

"No interruptions." His face broke into a wolf grin, and he captured my wrists and pulled me against him.

"Mmm. Maybe we should go upstairs now." I suggested. I stepped forward, making Ranger back up. We continued this until we reached the stairs, when he turned and practically dragged me up them.

We were naked on the bed, tangled together, and Ranger was kissing me like I was precious porcelain. "I love you, babe." He whispered against my lips.

I twisted away a bit, so I could look into his eyes. "I love you too. But I still want that map."

"Trust me babe, by the time I'm done with you, you'll have forgotten that the map was ever suggested." He said, as he nuzzled my cheek, and then kissed me with more love and passion than I'd ever felt before.

And oh boy was he was right.

**Stef's Story: SoWicked**

I was lying naked on the bed, my head propped up against the soft pillows. My eyes roamed over Ranger's naked body, caressing it, marvelling at his perfectly chiselled chest and eight pack abs. I shivered when they settled on the black velvet blindfold resting in his hand.

"Do you trust me, Babe?" Ranger locked eyes with mine and a wicked smile lighted his face. His voice was soft and tender but his eyes were dark and filled with passion and I nodded, fully aware that I trusted that man with my heart, my body and my soul. I watched him curiously as he held a velvet blindfold in his hands, the longer I watched him under heavy lidded eyes, the more I felt some interesting places tingle in anticipation. Ranger stepped to me, his hands gently slid up my body, running the length of me, caressing each and every curve, from my hips and my waist to the side of my breasts, slowly making their way up to my face.

The tip of his fingers softly drew the outline of my cheekbones. My eyes never left his as he pulled back stray curls that had found their way in my face before gently tying the blindfold, the material was soft and warm from his touch against my skin. I realised my other senses were staining to attention as darkness fell upon me. I could feel the mattress move as Ranger stood up and I heard him move around the room. I could feel blood rushing through my head and my heart pounding in my chest. The mattress sank in as he sat back next to me. My hand reached out to where I thought he was but I felt his strong hand encircle my wrist. He softly kissed my fingertips, then took my other hand in his and brought my arms over my head on the pillow, his touch gentle but firm. I felt his lips move against my ear. His voice was husky when he whispered, "Don't, Babe. Let me-- I _need_ to touch you. I _want _to love you."

I quivered at the sound of his voice and the promises his words beheld. Every cell of my body was awaiting his touch, hungry to feel his hands leave their mark there.

"Ranger..." I tried to cry out frustrated anxiousness but his mouth stopped me. The kiss was soft; his lips slowly traced the outline of mine. When he pulled away, I moaned at the loss of him then gasped when I felt something very soft trail over my body. It started at my ankles then very slowly drew the curves of my calves. It stopped a while at the crook of my knees to caress the sensitive skin there. My skin broke into shivers as it made its way up to my thighs and my hips. I arched when it settled on my belly and played with my bellybutton. My body was trembling under the caress and a soft moan escaped my lips. It was light and ever so soft… feather like. My lips formed the word. Ranger didn't say anything. The only sound in the room was my breathing, growing deeper and heavier.

The feather resumed its journey up my heated body, slowly caressing the swell of my breasts, teasing one nipple then paying the same attention to the other. Then it found its way back to my belly, down to the soft skin where my hips joined my legs. I writhed and moaned under the touch, all my nerve endings on fire. My body jerked up when the feather left my belly, quickly replaced by Ranger's hands. I let out a gasp as his fingertips skimmed my hot and quivering body, caressing my thighs and my hips, dancing on my belly and my breasts. I felt worshiped, as if Ranger was playing my body like it was a precious instrument.

I shivered as his mouth followed his hands, French-kissing my navel, licking and sucking at my skin. My head arched back and I moaned; my breathing quickened when he brought his hot mouth to my breasts, sending a ball of heat straight to my core. His tongue brushed and sucked at my nipples, rolling and teasing them until they were painfully tight. My head rolled back when his teeth gently nibbled at them. My breath was ragged and my whole body felt on fire; every single drop of moisture that it contained had gathered between my thighs.

I felt the urge to touch Ranger, to feel his skin against mine, to let my hands skim his body and brand it like he was branding mine. I was crazy with the need of him. I cried out as a first wave of pleasure ripped through my body. Ranger's mouth crushed mine, smothering my cry. His tongue possessed me, dancing with mine, urgently stroking it. But soon I took over the kiss, drinking him and revealing in the taste of him. I couldn't touch him, I couldn't see him but I could kiss him, and would put into this kiss all I felt for him.

I whimpered in frustration when he pulled away. His lips skimmed my jaw line, leaving a trail of open mouth kisses as they moved down my throat. I arched my neck to give him better access and he softly bit at the sensitive skin in the hollow spot. As he began his slow descent down my body I wriggled and squirmed under his touch. His hands were roaming over me, his lips burning my over sensitised skin, leaving me breathless and shaking with the need of him. He placed hot kisses on my breasts, on my stomach, spreading his hand flat on it. I could feel how wet I was when he kissed the inside of my thighs. Then slowly, excruciatingly slow, he brought his mouth to my core. He ran his tongue back and forth to my clit and softly sucked at my nub. I arched against him, trashing and whimpering at the feelings his lips were rising in me. My hips bucked uncontrollably against his mouth as he inserted two fingers inside me and circled my clit with his tongue. I felt the heat building in my center and every fiber of my burning body was screaming for a release. The feeling of his mouth down on me was driving me insane. My fingers painfully grasped the sheets and I moaned and groaned his name as I felt my walls tighten around his fingers. I was squirming and writhing, quickly losing control. I pressed against his mouth one last time and my orgasm washed over me. I cried out Ranger's name as I rode its waves.

When my heartbeat and my breathing returned to normal, my body was still quivering, every nerve ending humming. I realized Ranger had untied the blindfold and was gently stroking my arms and chest, softly murmuring my name and raining butterfly kisses over my cheeks. My eyelids fluttered open and the look of pure adoration I saw on his face brought tears to my eyes. My chest seemed too tight for the love I felt for this man. Ranger bent over and brought his lips to mine. The kiss was soft and lingering. When he pulled back, I sensed his smile as he whispered softly against my lips: "I love you, Babe"

**Heidi's Story: Ranger.Babe**

Ranger came awake slowly feeling warm and content. Memories of last night flashed through his sleepy mind and he felt himself stir beneath the sheets. Steph was an incredible lover. He had a feeling that their love life would be interesting for the next fifty years.

He lay flat on his back, spread-eagle style, the covers pulled up to his chest. Stephanie's mass of curls spilled across his torso as she lay peacefully cuddled into his bare chest.

Ranger went to wrap his arms around Stephanie but his wrists caught with a snap.

"What the…?" Ranger said, suddenly completely alert.

A deep chuckle poured from Steph's luscious lips. Ranger was struggling to sit up but Steph just continued to cling to his chest, arms holding him tight.

"Babe, what the hell's going on here?" Ranger asked, his tone curious but with a hard edge to it.

Stephanie just laughed again but released her grip on him and sat up beside him looking down into his face.

Ranger was moving his arms and legs trying to free them from their binds. Steph just sat and watched him struggle. It turned her on more than she liked to admit.

Stephanie reached out a hand and started tracing lazy circles on Ranger's naked chest and stomach. His tight muscles quivered below her touch. She traced down his six-pack abs, below his belly button and outlined the top edge of his black silk boxers which lay low on his hips.

"Stephanie, you want to tell me why my arms and legs are belted to the bed and why you seem so happy about it?" Ranger asked, his breathing uneven.

"It's simple. You had your fun with the blindfold, now it's my turn to have a little fun" she said with a coy smile, her bottom lip caught gently between her teeth.

"Babe, I don't like this. How am I supposed to be in control if I'm strapped to the bed?"

"That's simple too. You're not. It's my turn to be in control. Now lay back and relax," she said climbing over Ranger to straddle his hips.

Ranger was wearing only his black silk boxers and Steph was wearing black satin panties and a black satin corset that laced up the front with a thick red velvet ribbon.

She leaned down brushing her satin encased breasts against Ranger's warm chest, the feel of it causing his nipples to pebble. Steph looked him deep in the eye with a hot gaze before pouncing on his lips, claiming them in a passionate kiss. Steph quickly took control of the kiss, thrusting her tongue deep into his hot mouth, probing and exploring. She sucked his tongue vigorously then scraped her teeth along it as she withdrew.

Stephanie sat back on her heels, her crotch fitted snuggly against his growing erection. She smiled devilishly at Ranger.

"You know Ranger you say that you don't like this but there's something big and hard pressing against my ass that tells another story" she said sliding her slippery ass over him.

Ranger groaned and tried to grab hold of her again but was stopped short by the leather bindings. The leather creaked and rasped as he pulled against their hold but they held strong.

"Unh, unh, unh," Steph said shaking her head. "Bad boys who struggle don't get to have any fun Ranger. Relax," she whispered leaning down raining kisses over his face and neck. When he relaxed back onto the bed Steph found Ranger's eager mouth and they devoured each other as the sparks flew between them. They shared an intense connection that few others ever experienced.

She moved down his body kissing his chin and neck. She lathed his chest, swirling her tongue around his nipples, pulling the tiny peeks into her mouth with a strong suck.

"Babe" Ranger whispered, his voice hoarse.

Stephanie ignored him as she continued her tongue bath, sliding lower and lower and lower. She licked the defined muscles in his tone stomach and dipped her tongue into his navel. When she reached the top of his boxers she paused to look up at him. With a sly smile she used her teeth to grab onto the waistband and pull them down over his hot, massive erection. Ranger lifted his hips the best he could to allow her to slide them down more easily. When they were almost down to his knees Steph realized there was a problem. How was she supposed to get them off while his legs were tethered? She pulled at the fabric trying to tear the boxers off but it was no use.

"Cut them off, Steph," Ranger rasped out, "Get my knife from the night-table."

Steph slid off the bed and did as she was told, retrieving the small hunting knife and sliding back onto the bed next to Ranger.

"Careful Babe, it's really sharp," Ranger said.

Stephanie made quick work of the boxers, tossing their shredded remains to the floor. She closed the knife and tossed that aside as well.

"Hmmm, now where was I," she said with a wicked grin, climbing up to straddle Ranger's thighs. "Oh I remember" she said as she bent down and took Ranger's length deep into her mouth, as deep as she could in one swift motion.

Her mouth was hot and wet around him. He groaned loudly as the sensations washed over him. She was moving up and down taking him in deeper and deeper. She slid almost all the way off of him holding just the head in her mouth as she increased the pressure sucking in earnest.

Ranger was moaning and writing beneath her. The sound of the leather straining and Ranger's obvious pleasure had her in a state.

Steph turned her gaze upward as she continued to suck and lick him. His gaze was intense, his eyes glazed over in ecstasy.

"Babe, please, I need you. I want to touch you," he managed to grit out between pants.

She let him slide from her mouth and slithered her way up his body stopping here and there to taste him. When she was close to the top Ranger lifted his head as far as he could from the bed and kissed Steph with abandon.

She moaned into his mouth and rubbed her now soaked panties against his throbbing length. She sucked on his chin then moved her lips down to his neck. She spent a minute sucking the flesh into her mouth, biting and tasting him all the while rubbing herself against him. She was ready to come and he hadn't even entered her yet.

Steph pulled away from him, sitting up and then standing on the bed, straddling him. She looked at him hotly and wiggled out of her panties, Ranger's gaze locked to hers the whole time. She dropped the panties to the floor then threw Ranger a lecherous smile. She started swaying her hips in a grinding motion and reached for the velvet ribbon that held her corset together. Oh so slowly she untied the bow and unthreaded the ribbon. She glided her hips from side to side, her shoulders and head followed suit. She squatted part way down and shook her ass some more before standing back up. Ranger could only lay there, a look of dumbstruck awe on his face, his cock at full attention. His fists were balled up tight and he seemed to be holding his breath.

Ranger let out a loud gasp as Steph ran her hands down her body from shoulders to thighs, caressing her velvet skin. "Babe, are you trying to kill me? I can't take anymore, come down here," he said.

Steph chuckled but lowered herself down to her knees. She straddled his stomach and leaned in to claim his mouth. Ranger growled and kissed her ferociously. Steph pulled back sitting back on her heals panting.

With one last hot look she positioned herself over his hard length. Ranger tried to lift his hips and push into her but she just lifted up, out of his reach.

"Oh no, Ranger. It's my turn to drive," Steph said as she slid his cock into her very slowly, inch by inch, painfully slow.

Ranger had beads of sweat on his forehead and a flush to cheeks. His eyes rolled back into his head when he was fully sheathed inside of her. Stephanie stilled as they both savored the sensation.

Just then Ranger's cell phone started ringing on the night-table.

Steph's eyes flew open and she leaned forward to reach for the phone.

"Don't even think about answering it," Ranger said and thrust his hips up at her.

"Mmmm, stop that," Steph said, her voice faint, "We have to answer it Ranger. If we don't, they'll just come up and start banging on the door." Ranger continued to move in and out of her slowly as Steph grabbed the phone and flipped it open.

"Yo," she said in a husky voice.

"Bombshell? What are you doing answering Ranger's phone? And why does your voice sound so funny, are you sick?"

Steph bit back a moan, "No Tank. I, uhhh, I'm not sick, I just, ahhh. What the fuck do you want Tank? This isn't a good time" Steph said quickly, gasping as Ranger thrust into her twice in quick succession.

"Oh, man! You guys are gettin' it on aren't you? Man! Put Ranger on the phone." Tank demanded.

"Not a chance in hell. Now, unless this is life or death, Ranger is tied up at the moment" Steph snickered at her inside knowledge of just how tied up Ranger was at that moment.

Steph clenched her inner muscles around Ranger and moved her hips in a tiny circle as she chuckled at the joke. Ranger groaned loudly then sunk his teeth into his bottom lip to silence himself.

Tank's hearty laugh came floating through the phone.

"Tank?" Steph said.

"Yeah Bomber?"

"Stop laughing and don't you even think about coming up here for _at least_ another 90 minutes. Consider this your 'heads up' Tank, spread the word, Ranger and I are offline. There will be no more 'sexus interruptus' here!" Steph said snapping the phone shut, tossing it across the room.

"Hi Babe," Ranger said with a tender look.

"Well hello there," Steph said in a husky voice as she moved her hips forward and back again.

"That's it Babe, move for me," Ranger said with a moan. His arms were straining at their restraints, the urge to grab onto Steph overwhelming.

Steph's movements grew faster and more frantic as her need built up. She was practically wailing with her pleasure. Ranger could be heard groaning and making other manly noises as Steph rode him like Zorro.

Steph threw her head back and let out a guttural moan as her orgasm crashed over her. Ranger quickly followed as Steph's walls clenched around him milking him for all he was worth.

Steph collapsed flat on Ranger's chest with a sigh. She was still breathing in short pants, trying to come back down to earth. She could feel Ranger's heart pounding against her cheek where she lay on his chest.

"Babe, I want to hold you," Ranger said on a whisper.

Stephanie sat up and undid the belt on Ranger's left hand, rubbing gently at the angry red marks the bindings had made as he struggled. She undid his left foot and then climbed over him and repeated the process on the right side.

She softly caressed the angry red welts around his wrist, suddenly overcome with guilt.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to get hurt" she said placing kisses on his wrists. "I just wanted to have my wicked way with you, give you a little payback for your fun before."

Ranger wrapped his arms around her tightly and pulled her to lie down on top of him.

"I didn't even notice the leather was digging in Babe. Believe me, it was worth it" he said with a devilish grin.

"Oh yeah? I thought you didn't like not being in control," Steph said with a smile.

"Well Babe, your methods of persuasion are very powerful and you have successfully changed my opinion on that," Ranger said with a full-on smile. "Feel free to take control in bed any time you want to."

He grabbed Steph and pulled her to him for a hungry kiss. He rolled them over so he was on top of her, his weight pressing her down into the bed. He kissed her hot and wet and she felt him begin to stir again.

Ranger pulled back and looked down at Steph with a grin.

"What are you smiling at Ranger? That look on your face is making me nervous" Steph said.

"You told Tank at least 90 minutes Babe, we only used up about 20. I have plans for the rest of our free time," Ranger said moving down to kiss her neck, her breast, her belly.

"Oh boy" Steph said with a sigh.

**Christie's Story: MagnificentSin **

I had my ass planted on the couch, surfing TV channels when Ranger came into the apartment. Our eyes met as he walked towards the sideboard and dropped his keys, and cell phone in the silver bowl.

"Babe." Ranger said in passing as he made his way to the bedroom. I hopped up off the couch and followed him into the bedroom, close on his heels and stopped in the doorway as he kept walking into the closet.

I leaned against the doorway, assuming the Ranger pose, arms crossed over my chest, one shoulder leaning against the doorframe, "I thought you weren't coming back until later tonight."

Ranger peeped his head out from the closet and the sight of his bare chest took my breath away. Ranger was sheer perfection- all sculpted muscle and smooth mocha skin. Really every time I looked at him it was a toss up between licking him from head to toe and melting into a pool of wetness. Either way, I couldn't go wrong.

"I finished up early," Ranger said wryly. "Besides, babe, I have plans for you tonight."

I could feel the blush creeping up my neck and inching it's way to my face at the mere mention of the kind of plans that Ranger might have for me. He flashed me the 200-watt grin and ducked his head back in the closet, leaving me hanging.

I shifted against the doorframe and Ranger came out of the closet, wearing just black sweatpants hanging dangerous low on his hips and displaying a massive expansion of chest. As he moved closer to me, I pulled my eyes from his waistband to his eyes, and was met with a dangerously dark look. His eyes smoldered with intensity and it was all focused on me. He reached out, his hand unfolding my arms and his fingertips just barely grazed the gently rounded side of my breast.

"We've waited a long time," I said unsteadily, taking a step into him. He was holding my hand and he pulled it up to his lips, pressing light kisses on my finger pads. Each time his lips pressed onto my fingertips, my breathing got a little bit more labored and the loud thumping of my heart roared in my ears. He eyes never left mine.

"Are you nervous?" Ranger asked, and I nodded my head. "I won't force you into something you aren't ready for. We can take this as slow as you want to," he murmured against my fingers, pulling me closer to him. "It's your call, Stephanie. Just say the word…"

I slid my hand away from his and it dropped to his chest. I could feel his heart beating a little bit faster than normal and realized he was a bit nervous as well, but he would never admit to it. I knew this was what I wanted, but now that it was like the golden key and he was dangling it in front of me without any objections, I was second guessing myself.

I breathed in his heady Bulgari scent and held back a sigh that bordered on erotic out-of-control moan. "Ranger," I sighed and tipped my head back so that I could look him in the eyes, "this is what I want… What I've wanted for so long. I want you." I said enunciating each of the last words by pressing my lips against his bare chest, and flicking my tongue out, wanting to taste him any way that I could.

The unmistaken growl of suppressed lust erupted from Ranger's chest as he slid his hands around my waist and pulled me fully against him, backing me against the wall beside the door. Slowly his hands made their way from my waist, up my sides, brushing the underneath of my breasts with his knuckles, startling a gasp from me. As he leaned in to my lips, I slid my hand around his neck and pulled his head closer to mine. Our eyes never closed as he brushed his lips to mine, softly at first, teasing me, waking my body up and making me want to wrap myself around him. When his tongue flicked over my lower lip, I couldn't suppress the soft moan that escaped and the undeniable need shooting down my spine. His hands wove their way into my hair and angled my head so that he could deepen the kiss. His teeth grazed my lips; my nipples brushed his chest achingly, rubbing against him causing the fever in my skin to burn out of control. I wanted him so bad. I had wanted him for so long and had denied myself. This was what I wanted, to be in his arms, holding him, kissing him, wanting him to be inside of me until we both couldn't move. All I had to do was go for it.

I met his tongue with my own, taking control, sweeping out over his and rolling around it, drawing him into my mouth. I wanted him closer than he was, I wanted him so close to me that you couldn't figure out where I ended and he began. I weaved one leg around his, and pulled our hips flush to one another, brushing against the hardest and most urgent part of him. I could feel every inch of him, pressing me hard against the wall. My arms hooked underneath his, and I dug my fingernails into his back, as he moved his hands down my back, cupping my ass and pulling me off the ground so that I wound my legs around his waist. The clothing confined me from being where I really wanted to be in this moment, riding him up and down, pushing myself to the limit and crying out in sheer pleasure of immediate satisfaction.

Ranger left on hand on the underneath of my ass cheek to hold me close, and the other hand came back up, cupping my face near the hairline. He stared into my heavily lidded eyes, a wild feral look gleaming there before lowering his head to my collarbone, sliding his mouth over the sensitive skin, and up my neck, teeth grazing, tongue touching me, blazing a path of his possession. I gasped, and pushed and pulled against him, tried moving my hands further down his back to push off his sweatpants but found he had pinned my arms so that I couldn't move. I heard Ranger chuckle against the hollow spot underneath my ear, and he nipped at my earlobe before murmuring in my ear, "Going somewhere, babe?"

I couldn't answer him in my fervor. I moaned in response as he ground his hips to mine. Ranger slid me down him, letting me melt into the wall, and pinned me there. I slid my hand into his sweatpants, and dug my fingernails into his firm ass, until I heard him groan and then slid my hand slowly around his hip, along his upper thigh, until I was able to reach the length of him, and caressed him softly at first, unsure and then as hard as he was already he got harder and the rougher I got. I started to push his sweatpants down off his hips and Ranger caught my hand. I looked up at him and used my other hand to undo the top button on my jeans and slid my zipper down.

"I'm in control," I told him softly, my voice strangely seductive and like I'd never heard it before. I pulled my hand away from him and used it to push him back a couple of steps towards the end of the bed. I took a step closer to him, and my fingertips brushed his chest, down his rock solid abs and hooked them in the front of his sweatpants. I looked him up and down slowly and locked eyes with him. My lips parted and I licked them and Ranger's eyes darkened to onyx. He grabbed a hold of my hand and I pulled it back. I kept my eyes on him as I fisted my shirt and pulled it over my head, tossing it beside him. I pushed my jeans over my hips and they fell to the floor in a swoosh of material. I stepped out of them and watched Ranger as his eyes traveled from the floor, up my legs, setting his sights on my black lace panties before letting his eyes roam upward, settling on the rise and fall of my breasts before lifting his eyes to mine.

A faint smile played at my lips as I took in the dangerous look that crossed Ranger's face. He looked wild, uninhibited and completely uncontained. "You like what you see, Carlos?"

"Stephanie-" Ranger growled.

"On the bed," I demanded, pointing behind him. "Take those sweatpants off and get on the bed." When Ranger didn't move I advanced on him like a cat. "What's wrong, Carlos?" I took another step to him and raised an eyebrow at him; even with the hot desire coursing through my veins I wanted him to be as insane from this as I was. I didn't want this to be about him taking me, I wanted to take him. For once in our relationship I wanted to show him that this between us couldn't be controlled, wouldn't be controlled. I took another step into him and pushed him onto the bed, "Let me show you what I want you to do."

I hooked my hands in his waistband and tugged them off, sliding to my knees and looking up at him. I pushed his legs apart and positioned myself between them, taking him firmly into my hand and running my tongue up the underside of him. I heard Ranger suck in a deep breath and I sucked him into my mouth; he fisted his hands into my hair and I moaned. I ran my tongue up and down, sucking on him like a candy cane and when I thought he was just about to the breaking point, I pulled away from him and looked him in the eyes as I licked my lips. As controlled as he normally seemed, he was lacking all control now and it made me hotter than I already was.

I reached behind me and unhooked the bra, letting it slipped down my arms and fall to the floor. I let him look his fill, before I hooked my index fingers in my panties and slipped them to the floor. Ranger watched me intently, and scooted further back on the bed, raising up on his elbows and crooking a finger at me.

"C'mere," Ranger growled, "or I'll come get you."

I sashayed to him, and crawled up onto the bed, and over him. Ranger pulled my head down to his and took my lips with a ferocity that stole my breath away. Our hands were all over the place, touching, stroking, and never leaving them for a moment too long before moving. I teased him, raising above him and slipping him in inch by inch, tantalizingly slow and painfully erotic. He grabbed a hold of my hips and pushed me down onto him, keeping me fully flushed against his hips, grinding us together rocking back and forth. I grabbed a hold of the headboard and held on for all I was worth. I rocked my hips back and a groan escaped from Ranger. I rode him slowly, working up to a rhythm that caused my breath to quicken into small pants and Ranger to grip my hips like steel bands. Something flashed out of the corner of my eye and I looked over my shoulder at our reflection in the mirror. I paused and looked back at Ranger.

"Lean up," I told him. "Watch."

Ranger slid himself up the bed, so that the pillows were propped up behind his back and that I was seated in his lap. I lowered my lips to his and lifted my hips on him at the same time. I let my lips drift from his, along his jawbone, to his ear where I moaned as he rocked into me harder than the time before. His eyes were focused on the mirror and I was focused on the waves of pleasure racking my body as I rode him faster and harder. I was to the breaking point, I tossed my head back ready to ride the final wave and Ranger stilled my hips, rolling me over before I could protest and entered me with one slow stroke, filling me to capacity, molding me to him. Before I could even catch my breath, he slid his hips back and forward, causing me to buck my hips off the bed and trying to hold him to me. He leaned down, bracing himself on his elbow and held my hip flat to the bed, as he stroked in and out until we were both out of our mind in our pleasure. It hit me all of a sudden and I couldn't hold it off any longer, screaming out his name and arching my back and hips towards him, riding him for all it was worth.

I was laying underneath him, our breathing the only thing audible for the longest time. I was completely out of it until I could feel his lips on my bare shoulder, pressing light kisses over my shoulder and along my collarbone. I lifted my head up enough to lock eyes with him and give him a lazy grin.

"Carlos," I said, softly, "I love you."

He flashed me a crooked smile and leaned his forehead against mine, "I love you, babe."

**And they lived happily ever after...**

**well ... almost. One more story...**

**Anonymous: For obvious reasons!**

Well, I'd done it. I'd flown. And I'd survived but to be honest, I never wanted to do it again. Yes, it was something I'd been wanting to do since I was 6, but like most things you can't wait to do at that age, it wasn't what it was cranked up to be.  
I looked at Ranger sitting next to me at the table and I had an epiphany. I didn't know how to tell him. I did love him with all my heart, but I wasn't 'in' love with him. He was adventure, he was danger and he was tall, dark and handsome. He was everything a woman thinks she wants. But he wasn't what I wanted. I realized I could never get used to his life style, and I didn't want to.

I wanted my man to have days off and vacation, I wanted to know where he was at all times and I wanted the security of a home.

I wanted...

"Oh my God!" I screamed as the realization hit me. I jumped up and pushed my chair back so violently, it fell to the floor.

Ranger got up as well.

"Babe? You're okay?" He asked, reaching out to touch me.

I jerked back. How could I tell him?

Tears were welling up in my eyes. For the first time in my life, I knew exactly what I wanted, I 'd never been this sure of anything before. And I may have ruined it and never get it.

"Babe? What's the matter?"  
I finally looked up and met Ranger's eyes. He deserved the truth.

"I want Joe." I said softly, then I turned before I could see his reaction and walked to the door.

**Now This Is Really The End!!!**

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